


To Whatever End

by InfernalMachinae



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 20:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8592370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfernalMachinae/pseuds/InfernalMachinae
Summary: Aelin has established her court and has one last debt to pay. Aedion and Rowan are still territorial; one is her twin, the other her soul-bonded.Rowan is happy to be near and important to Aelin but what he wants most? Is to be able to say that he loves her, and that Aelin was his. That Aelin would say the same.Can his oath to her be broken? Would she be willing?





	1. Life in Court

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, it's me Infernal. If any of you know me from Wattpad, kudos to you! <3  
> And I realize now that this scenario is highly unlikely, but there you go.  
> This is my work from Wattpad, but that may be discontinued since EoS is out, and the next book is out next year.
> 
> Enjoy!

The court of Terrasen were seated at a marble oval shaped table, a crystal chandelier above them. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius's beloved cousin sat on her left and Rowan Whitethorn on her right. They were planning a mission on which their queen would set out; Aedion Ashryver was arguing with Aelin that he should accompany her along with Rowan. The latter saying that he can protect her well enough on his own.

Aelin yawned. Here they go again, she thought. They were never going to let go of the territorial Fae male bullshit.

Aelin'd set up her court a few months ago, now she and Rowan were to travel to Mistward to make good on a promise made a lifetime ago.

Ren Allsbrook was there as well and he was on Rowan's side. It was hilarious really.

Her eyes flicked to Rowan's in silent conversation. Do you wish for me to intervene?

Gods, yes. She smiled.

"All right. Aedion, you are to stay here and run the court in my absence. Do you understand?" she said in a very final tone.

"But-" he began. She pinned him with a hard stare and he backed down. "Yes, my lady."

She laughed. "Aedion, you have no need to call me "my lady", you are my very much loved cousin and general."

He grinned back at her. He always played this card to make her laugh; affection bubbled up in her for her dear cousin, one of the last shreds of family she had.

"You may all go," she said. Everyone but Rowan, Aedion and Lysandra, got up, bowed or curtsied, then left the room.

"Well," Lysandra murmured. "If every court meeting we have is like that, we shall never have a dull moment."

The rest of us laughed. She was right. And every meeting was like that. It was amazing that we got anything done.

Lysandra excused herself to her suite.

"Goodnight, Aelin," Lysandra said and curtsied.

"Goodnight, Lady," Aelin replied. Rowan and Aedion nodded their farewells.

The three left the chamber together.

...

Rowan sighed as they reached the hallway where they and Aedion would go their separate ways.

Aelin hugged her cousin and kissed his cheek before turning and walking to him. A flash of jealousy had sprung up when she'd said goodnight to Aedion but he squashed it; it was irrational, but yet...

His queen reached his side and took Rowan's hand. Hers was soft, small and callused. So familiar. They walked hand in hand towards her quarters on the east wing of the castle. She dragged him into her bedroom, shutting the double oak doors quietly. Aelin stood with her back to him long enough that he started back towards her.

Rowan lightly put his hand on her shoulder and she turned around to face him. Aelin's turquoise and gold eyes shone with hunger, and before he could say anything, she kissed him.

Her mouth was soft and warm, still tasting of the oranges they'd had with dinner, and he sighed softly, his eyes fluttering shut. Even after all this time, his warrior-queen still managed to surprise him.

He leaned in for more but she pulled away, strode into her bathing chamber and shut the door without a word. Rowan was left staring after her.

What just happened? he thought.

...

Aelin leant back against the bath tub's rim. What in hell was I thinking? She was being so foolish to want him like that but... No. Rowan has said that he wanted to wait before... and she'd said she wouldn't ask for anything he wasn't ready or willing to give.

She could be patient. Right?

...

Rowan was half asleep by the time she came out of her bathing chamber. Aelin was wearing yet another one of her nightgowns and his mind went blank.

By the time he recovered, she had gotten into bed beside him and turned onto her side, facing him.

After a while, when he'd started drifting off to sleep, Aelin shifted closer and curled up against his side. He glanced down.

The queen was fast asleep; it seems she'd unconsciously moved closer. A warmth spread through his chest and he smiled down at her. Then he rolled onto his side and slipped his arms around her, tugging her close.

Rowan held her for a while longer before giving in to sleep.


	2. Frustration

Rowan woke up earlier than Aelin the next day, the queen still asleep in his arms. He blinked sleepily; Aelin had not shifted away, in fact, she'd moved closer. Her head was nestled on the softer part of his shoulder and her hands curled up on his bare chest.

He smiled again, content to hold Aelin in any way. But...

Propriety. Blood oath. He groaned softly, if they were to be together, the blood oath would have to be broken. Aedion and Ren have already sworn oaths to Aelin, meaning she would not be short of blood sworn members.

Rowan shook his head. He would face these problems later; right now he would enjoy the moments before Aelin woke up.

Soon, as if she'd somehow heard his thoughts from earlier, Aelin stirred. He let go of her, and the instant he did, he felt as if a part of him has been torn away. His arms felt colder because her fiery personality wasn't there.

One day, he would be able to hold her without fear of her rejecting him, without fear of judgement.

One day.

...

Aelin woke up and reached out for the warm male body beside hers.

Empty sheets meet her fingers.

She opened her eyes; still warm but... empty. Aelin sat up and glanced around the room. Rowan was nowhere to be seen. Where had the Fae Prince disappeared to?

Well, she would find him later. She got out of bed, washed and dressed in a tunic and pants. Aelin needed to keep her assassin's skill... up to date; in other words, she still had to know and remember how to kill and defend herself, to be able to use those moves. So she kept up training, using the moves locked into her muscle memory from years of being trained by and killing for Arobynn Hamel, who is now dead; the Assassins' Guild run by any and every assassin that had paid Aelin and her court the money they'd needed for an army and more.

Aelin went to get breakfast and ran into Lysandra in the mess hall.

"Good morning, Aelin, " the shape-shifter said, Evangeline beside her. The copper-haired girl had grown a few more inches in the months of planning, curtsied for the queen and echoed her mistress' greeting. A fair few were allowed to address her as Aelin, since she hated being called "Queen", "your majesty" , and even "my lady".

They made small talk before she excused herself, headed back to her rooms and into her personal courtyard; sealed in by a roof of glass, equipped with every weapon imaginable and dummies to practice on... a courtyard fit for Adarlan's Assassin. Or former Adarlan's Assassin, she supposed. Aelin found a white-tailed hawk perched on a branch of one of the numerous trees there. Rowan.

"So this is where you've been hiding," she said, amused.

...

Rowan had been outside in the yard ever since he got back from breakfast. He'd watched as Aelin woke up and reached for his side of the bed-he'd smiled as she did- and had kept watch here ever since. Shifted into his hawk form, watched as she came back and went here, then-

"So this is where you've been hiding," Aelin said, eyes dancing, as she spotted him.

He flew down, shifted back to his Fae form and walked over.

"Finally. I was wondering whether you'll ever show up," he said, rolling his eyes at Aelin. "Alright, pick one." He gestured towards the walls. Everything was there, even Fae weapons. Ever since magic came back, and people had found out that their queen, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, was back, they all flocked to Terrasen. Aelin accepted everyone and anyone with magic in their veins. Even normal humans. With the Amulet containing the third Wyrdkey around her neck, Terrasen was a powerhouse again; Adarlan had made peace with them and all other territories.  
  
Aelin had picked fighting knives and was strapping some throwing daggers to her thigh, her favorite specialties. "Or two," he laughed. She had stayed in her Fae form ever since they'd started travelling back to Terrasen, so her senses were heightened, picking up more than the average human, even an assassin. She lunged at him, anticipating that he would be able to hear her. He blocked her attack with his arm and drew a sword from its sheath on the rack near the wall.

He feinted left before slashing at her feet; she was ready for the blow, leaping four feet in the air before landing a meter away, dancing on her toes. She unsheathed a throwing knife and threw it at him. Rowan only had time to duck, before she throw another knife at him and he had roll to get out of the way. When he sprung up to stab at her right side, Aelin threw up a shield of flame. A half-hour of this and he was slowing.

"Alright, you win," he panted, kneeling and silently discarding the sword next to him. She dropped the shield and he pounced on her, avoiding the knives before knocking her down. She landed on her back, pinned beneath him, the blades clattering to the ground beside them.

"Cheater," she breathed. Her scent enveloped him and he breathed it deep into his lungs, bracing his hands on either side of her face. He chuckled; yes, he had cheated. Aelin's eyes, with only cold calculations and the lethal killing calm before, now softened as she stared up at him. Rowan noticed she was breathing hard before he realized he himself was trembling. He watched as Aelin reached up and ran her fingers across his cheekbone and brushed them against his mouth. Rowan wanted so badly to kiss her but he sighed. Propriety. Get off her Rowan. Right. He'd call that voice Common Sense, and he would listen to it.

He rolled to the side and slipped his hand into hers. Aelin's fingers met his, hers small, warm and callused. He chanced a glance down and saw her face, blank and emotionless. He was surprise; she almost was never emotionless when he was around.

"Hey," he murmured. "What is it?"

She looked up at him. "How am I supposed to tell my people that I was Adarlan's most infamous assassin?"

Ah. "You just have to tell them."

She sighed. "It's easier for you; everyone knows about you being Maeve's soldier. Knows about the kills you've done for her. All that anyone knows about Celaena Sardothien is that she was the world's most notorious assassin, trained by the former King of Assassins, Arobynn Hamel, that she had killed many, was betrayed and sent to Endovier, became the king's champion, then disappeared approximately a year ago."

"I'm sorry," he began, her eyes widening slightly because he had never apologized for anything but he did now, "that I cannot help. You can only offer them the truth. About Marion, about Arobynn, the people you were commanded to kill but spared. The vaguest details about Endovier. Everything you can. I can arrange for a hearing with the court. A public speech for Terrasen. Anything you require."

"Thank you; I will personally write letters of my past to their families. Then I shall tell our court and ask them not to divulge the information to the public, sending them back with said letters. Arrange for a public hearing, and then send a messenger with a written letter to the other territories. We must postpone the trip to Mistward, I need to attend to these first, I'm afraid. We'll apologize when we get there."

Rowan smiled. She was growing into her potential to be a brilliant ruler, as he'd known all along. "Yes, my lady." As he'd intended, she laughed, her face lighting up.

"There's-" she started. He cut her off. "No need to call you lady, I know," he finished for her, laughing as well. "But..." he continued before hesitating. Should he tell her this? He might as well, "it doesn't mean you're not mine." He flashed his teeth at her. She flushed and he pursed his lips to keep a smile in. it didn't work; he grinned up at the darkening sky. After a while, Aelin sat up saying, "since we've already missed lunch, that doesn't mean we should miss dinner too."

"Alright," he said amicably. They both dumped their weapons and shuffled towards the Great Hall, otherwise known as the castle's mess hall, playfully shoving each other along the way.

Today's been a good day, Rowan thought.

...

Aedion watched as his cousin and Rowan came to the table laughing, completely covered in leaves and dirt. Rowan had a soft look in his eyes, one anyone rarely ever saw. Aelin was smiling as if this was the only place in the world she wanted to be; Aedion was happy that she had found a place with Rowan, himself in tow. The Fae Prince's scent hit him, combined with Aelin's, was full of undiluted love and delight; Aelin glanced over. Her eyes lit up when she spied him sitting at the table.

"Aedion!" she exclaimed before running over and hugging him, coating him in mud and leaves.

"Aelin! I just bathed!" he complained, pushing her back and looking her over.

"Oh, sorry," she said, grinning ear to ear. "Didn't mean to."

She flopped into the chair next to him, heaving a loud, dramatic sigh. "I have news," she announced, gesturing expressively. "I am going to tell our court and people that I was the notorious assassin, Celaena Sardothien."

Aedion gaped at her; she'd lost her mind! Rowan showed no emotion whatsoever, except perhaps amusement glimmering in his eyes; he already knew then, of her plan. What the rutting hell? Aedion thought.

"But what will they think?" he began. "People were and probably still are afraid of Celaena; will they be afraid of you?"

Aelin rolled her eyes and squared her shoulders. "I will tell them the truth, everything that I can. And send messengers bearing letters to the other kingdoms."

"I agree, but when?" he asked. That easily, he was in on the plan; she had a way to make everyone see her way and agree with her.

"Next week." Oh? he thought. I thought you were going to Mistward next week.

She raised her eyebrows. Change of plans. We will travel two weeks after today. Maybe later.

He nodded. Alright, Rowan and I will arrange for everything.

Aelin nodded in acquiesce.

He looked over to Rowan. What're our plans, Prince?

Rowan raised a brow at him; he looked a lot like Aelin when he did that. Tell me, how, exactly, are you involved in this?

Did you somehow not notice our queen and I have a silent conversation? he replied sarcastically.

Yes, totally.

Well, she informed me about her decisions, and she consented for us to schedule everything, he told the warrior, rolling his eyes.

Okay, fine.

Aelin grinned. "Will you two stop arguing? Enough with the alpha male nonsense. You're both blood sworn to me now."

"Never," Rowan told her sarcastically. Aedion echoed his statement. Fae and demi-Fae males were always at each other's throats for one reason or another. Aelin told them the details about what was to happen: write the letters, then she would hold court and tell them first, sending them with letters back to their families, asking them not to divulge the information. After that, a public speech for the rest of Terrasen, messengers to Eyllwe and Adarlan, then she will travel to the Southern Continent for the rest of the Ashryver family: Galan Ashryver and his court, or just do the same with messengers, bearing gold armbands stamped with the Galathynius royal house seal, as proof of their authenticity.

"So, how about..." Aedion suggested. The rest of their conversation carried on; after a while, Lysandra and her ward, Evangeline, came in and found them discussing the matter. They added their opinions as well.

The planning began in earnest.


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much nope, haha. I suck at this guys. But here goes, Aelin has a nightmare about her past, her family, and her friends. and stuff happens....
> 
> Yeah, noooope. Sorry guys

 

Rowan was up until midnight, making sure that the schedule he and Aedion had spent the rest of the day carefully laying out was sound.

Aelin had gone to bed long before him, Aedion soon after. Rowan blew out the only candle still lit on his desk and climbed into bed, gathering Aelin into his arms. Today, when they'd been training, she'd still been as fast and lethal as ever. Faster, perhaps, thanks to the Fae speed and grace. That immortal strength. But he'd still won, by using amazing technique. Cheating. He chuckled.

Just as he started falling asleep, the salty tang of tears reached his nose. Concerned, Rowan looked down at his queen. And watched as she cried in her sleep, helpless; he couldn't comfort her without knowing what was wrong, and she couldn't tell him unless she was conscious.

It felt like he'd been punched in the gut, watching the silent tears slip down Aelin's face. She had always been warm and steadfast. Unbreakable. His rock. Unsettled, Rowan shifted her closer. He had no idea what had caused this, and he planned to find out, but carefully, always carefully with Aelin's delicate past.

Soon, she stopped crying and he gently brushed away the tears, mindful not to wake her. After making sure she was fine, he fell asleep.

...

_Everywhere._ There was blood everywhere. Nehemia's broken body lay in front of her, her guards around her with their throats slit from ear to ear.

_Coward. You are nothing but a coward._

"I'm so sorry. For what I said. For everything," Aelin said to her once best friend.

Nehemia turned into Sam.

"I never loved you. I hated you from the moment I saw you. I only played along because Arobynn wanted me to," he spat at her. "The punishment was for show. Nothing more. And having you pay _my_ debts? That was just an added bonus. I'd rather be dead than live with you," he hissed, without even pausing for breath.

Tears slipped down her face. Even Sam hated her. Sam turned into her parents.

"You have brought shame on our family. Killing innocents, traitor to our people, to Terrasen," they said. "Unworthy of your crown."

They turned into her relatives: her uncle, Galan Ashryver, the past royal family, and said the same things.

Just when Aelin thought it couldn't get any worse, they became Chaol, Dorian and Lysandra, her beloved friends. _Coward, pathetic, murderer, unworthy of your crown,_ they said.

She was sobbing in earnest now and then it became even more unbearable. Aedion and Rowan.

"Please," she begged them. For what, she didn't know.

"You should never have become queen. You are unsuitable. A murderer of innocents, assassin, whore and traitor to your people," they said unison.

"Stop," she whispered, her voice hoarse from crying. "Stop, please."

Aedion glared at her. "You are not befitting to be my queen. A shame on our families. You betrayed Terrasen."

"I do not care," Rowan said vehemently. "You are and always will be _nothing to me."_

Aelin woke up screaming, barely noticing that she was crying her heart out.

...

Aedion had been asleep when a scream woke him up. The voice to whom it belonged was... _Aelin._ Sprinting for his desk, he grabbed a dagger before he hurtled out the door and ran to her rooms.

He found Rowan and their queen sitting in bed, sobs racking her slim frame. His eyes immediately went to a shirtless Rowan, who had his arms around Aelin, concern and affection clear in his scent and face. Yet the Fae prince just shook his head; well he could understand that gesture well enough. _No idea._

The prince lifted her up, came over and set her down gently, gathering her back into his arms, Aelin still crying softly. After a moment, Aedion dropped his dagger and went over, wrapping his arms around the queen as well.

Rowan released Aelin to him and went over to pile some logs onto the still glowing embers. Aelin twisted towards him, burying her face in chest. Soon, with some help from Rowan's wind, the fire was burning bright and warm.

It was still dark outside, despite the fact that it was near three in the morning. Aedion carried Aelin back to her king sized bed and laid her down in the center, pulling the blankets up to cover her. He settled down next to her, earning a scowl from Rowan, which he pointedly ignored. He _was_ her closest cousin after all.

By the time the Fae prince sat on her other side, Aelin was slumbering between them. Aelin's scent -jasmine, lemon verbena and crackling embers- wrapped around him, entwined with Rowan's.

He looked across to the warrior. _What the rutting hell happened?_

...

Rowan had woken up to Aelin's screaming. Panicked, he'd sat up, drawing her with him. Not long after, her cry still echoing in the chamber, Aedion had come running, not slow enough for Rowan to have time to scent him. Alarm then relief filled her cousin's eyes, his scent so much like Gavriel's, yet also similar Aelin's, filled the room, and perhaps thinking that someone had broken in, he held a dagger in his hand. The question _What happened?_ was obvious in the other male's eyes and he shook his head in answer. Aedion's brows shot up.

Glancing back down to the still sobbing queen, he lifted her in his arms, staggered out of bed and set her down, wrapping her in his embrace again as she laid her head against his bare chest, tears staining her face.

He stood breathing in her scent for a second before he heard Aedion's dagger clatter onto the desk and the queen's closest cousin wrapped his arms around her as well.

Rowan entrusted her to Aedion as he kneeled down in the hearth and set about restarting the fire. He turned around in time to see Aedion set Aelin in the center of their bed and settled in his place. Rowan scowled at Aedion, which he wisely ignored. Sighing in resignation, he sat on Aelin's other side.

Aedion eyes flicked to his in a silent conversation, the queen sleeping between them. _What in rutting hell happened?_

_Do I look like I know?_ he answered with a quelling look.

_You usually know more than I do about Aelin, and this_ is _your room, last time I checked._

He signed through his nose. The Ashryver prince was right, but he _didn't_ know and that was the problem. _Want to stay until she wakes up tomorrow?_ he asked.

_If you don't mind sharing her, Prince._ Aedion gave him an amused yet exasperated look. The male was fast becoming a brother- annoying as hell, yet fond of him.

_Of course not, you're family. Besides, I think she will like it if we got over our differences,_ he added. _For a while._

Aedion chuckled in response and Rowan grinned back. A few minutes later, the male had crashed into unconsciousness, slumped down beside Aelin. The fair coin of the pair.

_They could be softhearted and tender one minute, so kind and understanding; yet a cold, calculating and lethal General and Queen the next,_ he mused. _Two sides of their fair coin._ Someday, he would like to see who would win if they fought against each other.

After his mind quieted, Rowan fell asleep as well. The last thing he was conscious of was that Aelin had yet again curled up against him. He smiled.

_We'll find out what had happened tomorrow._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for short chapter, I couldn't think of anything else to write. But what do you guys think?
> 
> Please comment and vote. :)
> 
> Bye guys!!!


	4. Confession

 

 

Aelin woke up the next morning to see that Aedion was in Rowan's place; Rowan himself was asleep on her other side, his arm wrapped around her, holding her close. She realized belatedly that she was nestled against him, she shifted slightly and Rowan stirred, his arm pulling her tighter to his muscular side. Aelin rested her head on the soft part where his arm met his shoulder and Rowan tensed slightly, a sign that he'd woken up. He leant up on his left elbow, glancing down at her. His brows furrowed slightly but left his arm around her.

Rowan glanced to Aedion, rolling his eyes. Oh? What were they _both_ doing in her room?

She looked up at her _carranam_ , a question in her eyes.

...

Rowan had known that Aedion was awake the second he leant up. Glancing down at his Aelin- _Rowan, stop being so possessive_. Okay. Well, she was awake, and had no doubt noticed his arm around her shoulders.

Watching Aedion, he rolled his eyes. The male was obviously the awake.

He flicked his eyes back to Aelin. _Why are you both here?_

_Well, for me, I stay here because you want me to. Aedion because you woke up during the night and he came running in._ He rolled his eyes again.

_Oh. What happened?_ Odd. She doesn't remember.

_I'll explain later._ Since Aedion was now watching.

"Aelin?" her cousin asked sleepily. "Are you alright?"

_Please. You are completely awake, idiot._

"She doesn't remember. I'll explain to her later," Rowan said.

"Yea, okay," Aedion mumbled before staggering out of the room in search of his own bed. Rowan shook his head, amused. _Maybe not completely._

He glanced back at his queen. Instead of asking him anything else, she'd gone back to sleep. _Oh well,_ he thought. _Aelin knows now. Why not?_

So he wrapped his arm around her waist, folding her into his side and lay awake, thinking.

...

Elide had spent weeks trekking through Oakwald to Terrasen. She hoped Aelin was there and that she might know who or where Celaena Sardothien is.

She broke through a line of trees to see mountains and acres upon acres of lush green grass, the towering Staghorns lining the horizon. The scent of pine and snow filled her nostrils.

_Terrasen_. She was finally home. Elide Lochan ran to the palace in the distance.

...

Rowan was still in bed in the afternoon, Aelin sleeping at his side. His self-control was slowly shredding apart the longer he was there.

Shit.

He gritted his teeth and tried to wait it out, knowing it was impossible.

...

Aedion and Lysandra were talking about Aelin's schedule next week on the porch outside when someone walked up to them. She had night-black hair and onyx colored eyes.

Aedion Ashryver stared at the girl. She looked familiar... the girl gasped, recognizing him.

"Aedion!" she exclaimed. He and Lysandra shared a look. "It's me, Elide!"

It was his turn to gape. It had been years! Elide's mother had been Lady Marion, her father Lord Cal Lochan, the former sacrificing herself for Aelin to get away.

 

He stood up and went over. Her leg was mutilated and she was limping.

"Lady Elide! Come in, please. Tell me everything! Where's your uncle?" He gestured for her to go in through the open door. She and Lysandra went in before he closed the door.

He asked whether Lysandra would mind lending Elide some of her clothes, and help her wash up. Lysandra replied, "It's fine," before standing up and leading the girl out.

Aedion sprinted to Aelin's room and threw open the door. Rowan shot him an annoyed look from where he sat on the bed, shirtless, Aelin half-lying against him, reading a book.

"Aelin! Elide's here! Lysandra's lending her clothes. Go to Great Hall," he exclaimed. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of bed, unceremoniously stripping and dragging on a navy tunic and black pants before sprinting to him, grabbed his hand and ran out.

Rowan trailed behind them, hastily pulling on a shirt.

...

"Lady, there's no need to lend me such fine clothes. I am but a servant girl now," Elide objected when she saw what clothes the woman called Lysandra was lending her.

"It's alright!" she said brightly. "I have more than enough to spare. After this, we'll get you a bit to eat. No doubt Aedion's already told Aelin, so they'll be in the Great Hall." _Great Hall?_ Elide thought. Aelin seems to have everything.

After she was done, she picked out the scrap of cloth hiding the stone from the black dress' pocket. _Find Celaena Sardothien,_ Kaltain had said. _Remind her of her promise: punish them all._ She owed Kaltain her life, and will do this to repay her, but she hoped that Queen Aelin knew who Celaena was. Lysandra led her into the Great Hall; it was enormous, the table spanning the length of the room. Inside, three people sat near the head of the table, deep in discussion and Lady Lysandra walked right up to them. Elide recognized the girl in the center since she seemed to be her age, Elide caught a flash of her turquoise-gold eyes as she glanced from Aedion to... someone else. _Aelin._ As kids, they'd never been truly friends; she had been too shy and Aelin never seemed to like her.

"Aelin," the male on her right said. "Maybe we should-"

"No," the queen objected. "We'll go as planned, unless something happens."

The males on either side of her nodded. The one that had objected... he was Fae, judging from the elongated canines and delicately pointed ears, not to mention the scrolling tattoo down the left side of his face, most of it covered by clothes, all the way down to his fingertips. The queen in their midst glanced towards Lady Lysandra and her eyebrows rose before lowering over confused eyes.

Then, at last, Aelin looked over to Elide.

...

_Elide Lochan._ It's been a decade since she had seen Lady Marion's daughter; she had grown up to look so much like her mother. And yet... her leg was twisted; it seemed that she had injured her foot and then worn shackles after it had healed. _Poor girl._

Aelin stood up and went over to Elide, enveloping her in a warm embrace.

"Aelin!" she gasped out. "You're alive! How?" Aelin pulled back and flashed her elongated canines at Elide, who noticed her ears and teeth.

"Oh! Is that how?" she asked, surprised.

"No, my dear Elide; I will tell you what happened with Lady Marion after you eat something," she told the girl, ushering her over to a chair two from Rowan and sat down between them. The pair got into a conversation that carried late into the evening and a fair bit into the night.

 

The original trio were finally back together.

...

Elide yawned and Aelin insisted that she went to bed, saying that Lysandra had gotten a room ready for her in the west wing of the castle, where Lysandra's quarters were. Lysandra had excused herself to go hours earlier. Aelin accompanied her, chatting as she went, the Fae male and Aedion trailing behind them.

Elide hadn't failed to notice that the male was _very_ handsome and so was Aedion but if she were to kiss him, it would be like kissing Aelin; and that Aelin had a soft look on her face whenever she was watching the male. Aelin opened the door to a luxurious suite and she gaped. The bed was bedecked in luxurious cream-colored satin, fluffy feather pillows and a great view onto one of the gardens from the balcony. She turned around in a circle, taking it all in; she pivoted back to see Aelin telling the two warriors to wait outside.

"Thank you!" she cried happily, hugging the astonished queen. Elide pulled back and gave her a sly grin. "Hold on a second, I'm going to get Lady Lysandra," she said before darting out of the room.

Aedion and the male were shocked to see her back out and she shooed them off before making her way to Lysandra's suite.

"Lysandra!" she said, knocking on the door. "The queen requests your presence." Instead of a person answering the door, a ghost leopard slinked out. She gasped when the leopard transformed into Lady Lysandra.

"Why, hello," Lysandra said, eyes glittering with mischief. "And I suppose Aelin forgot to tell you that I'm a shape-shifter?"

"Oh, no. She told me; I just wasn't expecting you to be a _ghost leopard!"_ Lysandra laughed, a sound like a bell's chime, before flashing her teeth in a grin.

"It's my favorite form. I'll tell you more about when we meet with Aelin."

"Can we just call her Aelin? I thought she is queen now." They headed to Elide's suite.

"Sure, she is queen, but she hates being called Lady or Queen or _anything_ else but Aelin by her court." Lysandra stuck out a hand, stopping her when they reached the corner her room was around then lifted a finger to her lips.

"Watch," she breathed. They snuck a look to see Aedion and his friend still outside the room, their backs to them. The she shifted back into a ghost leopard, padding silently towards the pair. Elide suddenly saw where she was going with this and she pressed a hand to her mouth to keep her laugh in.

Lysandra paused behind the pair then leapt onto Aedion.

"Rutting hell!" he shouted. It was too hilarious and she burst out laughing.

The male beside him roared with laughter and said, "I knew she was there! I can't believe you didn't scent her, Aedion!"

"It's not my fault! I was too busy talking to you," Aedion complained. "I blame you for this."

Lysandra shifted back, eyes shining with glee. Elide came round the corner, still giggling like a complete idiot.

Aedion whirled to her. "Not you too! Tell me you didn't see that!"

"I totally didn't," she laughed. Aedion groaned and they all chuckled. Aelin stuck her head out of the door. Glancing at her cousin and the male's face, then at Lysandra and her, she figured out what had happened.

"Lysandra, did you pounce on my cousin again?" she asked, raising a brow. The shape-shifter nodded, delighted with what she had done. Aelin shook her head, but the sting of disapproval was dampened by the fact that, she too, was grinning from ear to ear.

 

"Alright, girls," she said. "Get in my room. Boys... shoo! Out! Now!" Elide gestured for them to go away and they left muttering to each other and the occasional chuckle. They all went in, shutting the door. Elide locked it, for good measure.

"That won't matter, they'll still hear," Lysandra said. Elide shot her a questioning look but it was Aelin that answered.

"Aedion and Rowan are Fae, well, Aedion's demi-Fae," she explained. Her eyebrows shot up. _Rowan... Whitethorn?_

Reading the look in her eyes, Lysandra said, "Yes, Rowan Whitethorn. He's part of court. He and Aedion are blood-sworn to our queen here." Lysandra gestured to Aelin, sprawled on the bed. _Wow._

Aelin sat up, laughing. "Yes, I know it's a big deal. Get used to it. I changed the rules. And I know Rowan's a powerful Fae male."

The girls went over to the bed, jumping on so Aelin nearly fell off.

"Hey!" she complained.

"Shut up, Princess. Now what did you want to talk about?" Lysandra asked.

"Well... Girl talk!" she cried. "Aelin, you first!"

"Umm okay?" Elide had noticed how she watched Rowan earlier so she asked for that history first. Aelin explained about how she'd gone to Wendlyn and trained there, fighting the Valg princes and coming back to free magic before reclaiming her throne. Lysandra got the message of where she was going with this and a sly look came into her eyes.

"Okay," Elide said. "Do you like him?"

"Umm..." Aelin hesitated.

"Tell us! Tell us!" Lysandra chanted, goading the queen.

"Fine! Yes!" she admitted.

She turned to Lysandra and high-fived the shifter.

"And Aelin... I have a question," she said uncertainly. "Do you know who Celaena Sardothien is?"

Lysandra was starring at Aelin, who went white.

...

Silence. Complete silence before-

"I am Celaena Sardothien, the infamous assassin of Adarlan."

Lysandra stared at her friend and queen in shock. She'd admitted it. Lysandra knew how hard it was for her; Aelin wanted more than anything that she could forget Celaena Sardothien. It was like how she wanted to forget how she'd been a courtesan.

Elide's eyes went wide. Not many people knew Terrasen's queen had been an assassin in Adarlan; that was what Aedion, Rowan, Aelin and herself had been planning to tell her people.

"Why do you ask?" Aelin continued calmly. _Too_ calmly.

"Lady Kaltain wished for me to seek Celaena out and give her this," she said, fishing in her pocket for a piece of cloth, and inside it, a glittering sliver of blackness.

"Kaltain?" Aelin asked sharply, before realization dawned on her face. "You were in Morath weren't you? Manon and her Thirteen must have got you out; I heard half their Keep had been destroyed by Kaltain's shadowfire." _How in hell did she know so much?_

"Yes, they got me out," she admitted. "Escaped from my uncle. Perrington is breeding monsters there, using the other witches. Kaltain also said something about it unlocking things...?"

"Wait... that's a piece of my cloak!" Elide seemed bemused. "The cloak I gave to her in my assassin days when we were in Adarlan's dungeon together," she clarified. Lysandra laid back, she'd heard all of this before.

 

"Yes, she said they wouldn't let her bring the cloak so she tore a square off. She explained that it was to remind her of what you said and then she cut something out of her arm and wrapped it in this cloth, saying 'remind Celaena of her promise: _punish them all';_ her body was wasting away, whatever they had done to her... it destroyed her. Then the Thirteen flew me out on their wyverns, Manon had me trek through Oakwald, saying that they couldn't go further."

Lysandra watched Elide drop the scrap of fabric and whatever it contained into Aelin's palm. She sniffed and, Lysandra hadn't thought it was possible but paled further.

Lysandra changed the subject, asking them what they were doing tomorrow. Their conversation carried late into the night before Aelin said goodnight, because she had to wake up early tomorrow.

"You always wake up early anyways!" Lysandra teased as Aelin got off the bed and padded towards the door. Aelin flashed a grin, saying, "I know. Goodnight." After she left, Lysandra and Elide bonded over girl time.

Soon, even Lysandra had gone back to her suite and went to bed.

...

Rowan had been lying on the bed, reading one of Aelin's books, when she came in, pale as death. He laid the book on the bedside table, and patted the bed.

Aelin came over, her face blank with shock. He knew she saw him but she didn't respond. Concerned, he tilted his head and asked, _Are you alright, Fireheart?_

No reply. He stretched an arm towards her, tugging her to him. "What's wrong, Fireheart?" he asked.

"I..." she hesitated, then went on, "Elide knows. That I was Celaena Sardothien. She asked and I told her, she said that Kaltain had given her the last piece of my cloak along with something else.

"Kaltain?" he asked, bewildered. He knew who she was, sort of. "How...?"

"Morath," she said simply. Oh. Elide must have been in Morath with her uncle; _where those with magic in their veins disappeared to in the dead of night, before the King had been killed,_ Aelin had told him. Kaltain... had been Duke Perrington's slave of sorts, and that Morath had exploded from Kaltain's shadowfire.

Aelin dropped a piece of cloth wrapped around something small into his hand. He leant back against the row of pillows and she followed suit, resting her head against his shoulder. Rowan sniffed at what was inside before unwrapping it.

Inside gleamed a glittering shard of... darkness; that was the only word to describe what he was holding. What Maeve had said about Wyrdkeys sounded in his mind and and Rowan realized why Aelin had come to bed looking so pale. A Wyrdkey. An abyss of endless power, slumbering.

"Which one?" he inquired.

"The one that unlocks all things. This is how Erawan got out," she said, staring down at her lap.

He lifted her face up to his with a finger. All he can see in her eyes are fear and guilt.

"I could have saved her. What do I do with it?" she whispered to him, only him.

"There was nothing you could have done that didn't result in your death," he assured her. "Kaltain chose to spare the witches and destroy herself, along with more than half the Keep and its inhabitants.

"You could hide it," he continued. "Remember that vision you showed Maeve?"

She nodded then moved her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Where?" she asked.

"Somewhere precious to you. Only you. A place where no one knows about yet is near here." She sighed. _You. You're precious to me,_ she said, switching to a silent conversation. He chuckled, he was a person, not a place but he was jubilant that she considered him dear to her.

She slid away from him, picking up the discarded piece of cloth. It was a faded red, with gold threads. He watched her stare at it, curiosity mingling with worry. He sniffed subtly at the scrap.

"Your cloak? Your scent is barely even there," he said, frowning.

"From when I was the king's champion," Aelin explained. "I gave it to Kaltain when I visited the dungeons after I won. She kept it to remind herself of my promise: to punish them all. I made it when I was thrown in there after I tried to kill Chaol when Nehemia died. It was partly his fault; I blamed him because he didn't tell me someone had made a threat to her. I told you this before, in Mistward."

He knew her past and Princess Nehemia were difficult for her to talk about, then what she just said registered and he snarled softly; he hadn't known that the Captain himself had thrown her into a dungeon. She'd tried to kill him... serves him right but he now knew how he'd gotten that scar down his cheek. She must have cut him.

"Is that how he got the scar of his face? A knife?" he asked warily, waiting for her to confirm his thoughts.

"Yes and no. Four scratches with my nails," she said. His eyebrows shot up. _Her nails? Holy hell, it must have been a delight to deal with eighteen-year-old Aelin._ "Before I nearly stabbed him I mean; Dorian stopped me, someone else knocked me out."

She must have read the disbelief in his eyes because she smiled, her eyes glittering. "It's like my life is on repeat. That was what happened in Endovier too. I was a fingertip away from the wall when one of the sentries knocked me out with the pommel of his sword."

"Impressive, Princess," he remarked. He knew her shaft had been three-hundred and sixty-three from the wall and that the sentries shot anyone before they even made three, but she'd still killed her overseer and twenty-three sentries, all of whom deserved it. She stood up to get changed, stowing the piece of her old cloak in her bedside drawer.

He opened his drawer and pushed the Wyrdkey to the back before shutting it just as Aelin came back out, wearing one of his shirts. It was still enormous on her. She was so oblivious to the self-control he had to exercise to keep her at arms length, and he was slowly failing. Everyday, he let his barriers down; everyday, because they had walked out darkness and pain together. They were still walking out of that abyss. Because Rowan had seen how Aelin watched him when she thought he wasn't looking.

He dumped the hidden daggers on the bedside table; no one would be able to get close enough to steal the Wyrdkey, not while he was there; he would be able to sense and kill them before they were in the room. Anything for his queen.

Aelin approached the bed, climbing in and drawing up the covers before nesting against him. She quickly fell asleep, her hand on his abdomen. Rowan watched as her breathing turned deep and even, her lashes casting long shadows across her high cheekbones; anyone could see the killing potential that lay within her, a weapon forged by the former King of Assassins, in the stillness of her form, the line of her strong jaw, the way she held herself, yet it did not scare him. No part of her disgusted him. Aelin was beautiful, lean and graceful. He traced his fingers down her back, over the ridges of the scars from her days slaving in Endovier. His Fireheart, hurt and shut in the dark. She would still wake up and bury her face in his chest when the nightmares of that hellhole they'd shut her in came back.

He and Aedion had had the pleasure of slowly torturing then executing the overseers, repaying them for what they had done to Aelin. For the slaves before and after her, who had hoped with all their broken hearts that they not be forgotten.

 


	5. Agony and Caution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff stuff.... Yeah nope. Sorry I suck. I know. Don't hate me please.

 

 

Rowan was asleep when Aelin shifted at his side and he blinked sleepily down at his queen. She was staring up blankly at the ceiling.

"Aelin?" he murmured.

She turned onto her side to face him; he was nearly unsettled when she stared up vacantly at him, her eyes empty. Soft and warm but... her eyes... the coldness in them.

"Fireheart?" To his relief she blinked and warmth filled her eyes. _Yes?_ she asked.

"What happened the night before?"

"Hmm?"

"You were... crying," he said, his voice strained. She gave him a confused look. "I... think you were having a nightmare." He hesitated as she buried her face in his neck. "What was it about?"

She stifled a sob and his hand immediately went to her hair, soothing her. His skin grew damp beneath her face.

"Aelin? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He didn't want her to be hurting, but he had to know, if only so he can help.

Random streams of thought registered in his mind. Aelin's. All Rowan could make out were a few words. _Nehemia... Coward... Sam, her parents... uncle... Galan Ashryver... hates me... unworthy... crown... Aedion... says... a traitor..._

It was agony to listen to this. Then her barriers went down, one last name to make her hate herself. One last from someone dear to her.

_Rowan..._

He couldn't imagine how she'd managed to get his name into this whirl of self hatred; but maybe it was because of his behavior when he had first met her. _Doesn't care... nothing to you..._

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her, holding Aelin close. "I'm sorry," he repeated, again and again. She let it out, sobs shaking her small frame. Rowan stroked her hair, trying to calm her.

"Aelin," he started, but thought better of what he was going to say. She wasn't ready. Not yet.

She just hugged him harder. He felt terrible for what he'd said in Wendlyn when he'd snapped at her. He murmured wordless sounds of comfort, waiting for her to raise her head.

It could have been minutes or hours, but he was content to be able to lie there and comfort her. Aelin was half lying on him and he could feel the temptation to kiss her. Fighting it off, Aelin finally looked up at him, her face blotchy and eyes red.

Rowan's restraint was holding on by a thread. When Aelin was able to speak again, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, sitting up.

"I was back in Nehemia's room on the night she was killed. There was blood everywhere and her body got up. Called me coward when I apologized, then she changed into Sam, then my family then Dorian, Chaol and Lysandra. Then finally you and Aedion," she explained, tearing up again. "You all said the same thing: unworthy, traitor, murderer. Sam said he never loved me, that it had been Arobynn's idea. Then you said you didn't care."

When she finished he damned consequences to the wind and gave up on self-restraint. He kissed her hair and her cheek, breathing in her scent of crackling embers.

"Sleep," he cooed. "I'll keep the nightmares away."

"With what?" she asked, curious and amused but wary at the same time.

"With my bare hands, of course," he replied. Rowan laid back down, drawing her to him so she was back to half lying on him. He wiped away the tears and rested his chin on top of her head. Aelin lay there enveloped in his warmth, listening to his steady heartbeat.

"Sleep," he crooned to her. "Sleep... my sweet Aelin."

To his utter delight, she obeyed and closed her eyes, sighing softly. Soon, her breathing became deep and even. Calm.

It troubled him that she still thought this way about herself. But perhaps these type of wounds will never heal; maybe they'll always hurt, but he could try. Try to heal her, those invisible wounds. As long as she's happy, he will be. As long as it's true.

Light comes from within, he remembered reading somewhere, so he fell asleep with a vision of them together, surrounded by light.


	6. Surprise Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back...

 

 

A week later, Aelin and her court were in the middle of a discussion about what to do with the Fae who had been stuck in their animal forms. A stack of letters were at Rowan's side.

"We could offer them training and shelter," Aedion suggested.

"Why? We shouldn't need them," a man called Alex objected.

Aedion cocked his head to the side, the Wolf of the North incarnate, but Aelin interrupted.

"We will need them when and if my aunt sends a legion to eliminate us, as well as that we need an army to hammer on Perrington's. They will rise, eventually and when they do, we will be ready," she said with a determined light in her eyes.

The court nodded their acceptance and the topic moved onto the speech.

"My dear people," she began. "I ask you what you know of the assassin, Celaena Sardothien."

Some paled, some coughed, some didn't have any response.

"My lady," a farmer started. Aelin shot him an exasperated look. "Aelin," he amended, "we know that she was a notorious assassin and killed many, but from what we have heard, never a child nor a natural born Terrasen. Sardothien was known as Adarlan's Assassin and Queen of the Underworld."

Someone else continued, "And that she was betrayed by Arobynn Hamel then captured and sent to Endovier for a year before the Crown Prince of Adarlan found her and pulled her out. She competed in a competition to become the former King's Champion, but she never killed any of her targets, except for Archer Finn, who betrayed and killed the Eyllwe princess, Nehemia."

The woman handed the speaking back to the farmer, everyone else nodding. "She was sent to Wendlyn to kill the royal family there but she never did it. Your return was coincided with when she disappeared a few months earlier. And when she went back to Adarlan, it was as if she had vanished from existence. That is all we know, Lady."

Aelin nodded, not bothering to correct the farmer again and Rowan could sense that she was nervous as to what she would reveal next. "I ask that you not tell anyone of the information I am giving you next. Please," she said in all seriousness. "But I am the notorious assassin known as Celaena Sardothien."

Everyone else stared at her in shock. The silence lasted but a moment before the court was bombarding the queen with questions, the noise increasingly louder.

"What do you mean?"

" _You_ are Celaena Sardothien?"

"Do you still kill people, Lady?"

The questions continued on and on in the same line of thought until Aelin's cousin cleared his throat.

Everyone settled down, watching him, Lysandra and Aedion.

"Tell us, do you still murder people?"

His queen sighed in relief. She had been anticipating that her people would start screaming for help, that they wouldn't trust her anymore.

"No." Everyone relaxed minutely, knowing that their queen was no longer the cruel assassin that had been rumored to kill for fun. "But I will be able to fend for myself. I do not wish that I am to hide behind men. I will fight with my people when war comes."

"We have a brave queen," the carpenter, Dameon, commented. "We are lucky."

His fellow court members nodded their agreement. Aelin smiled slightly. "These are letters-" she held up a letter from Rowan's side, "-that I have written for your families, when you tell them. Please ask they do not divulge the information. I will announce in soon."

 

"Yes, Aelin," they said simultaneously. "We will be with you when you announce this to all of Terrasen, stand by you when they doubt and ridicule. We shall personally make sure that all of Terrasen rest in peace, knowing that you are no longer a killer."

Aelin thanked them for their support and understanding. Her people asked for what had happened in all the years she had spent as an assassin and she provided them with every answer, never faltering. It seemed easier for her to speak of the past now when she knew they would not fear or reject her as queen.

They talked late into the afternoon, servants bringing in lunch. The servants in the castle were chosen from the people, who thought it an honor to work in the castle. Every six months, the servants change over, the current ones going back to their former lives and families, after training a new batch to come take their place. Anyone was allowed to leave if they wish, they only need to ask it. This made Terrasens love their queen and become devoted to her; it was a good system.

When the meeting was finally adjourned, Rowan stood up and stretched, stiff from the hours of sitting still. Lysandra shifted into a ghost leopard and yawned, slinking out to hunt before settling for a nap.

As Aelin, Aedion and himself walked out, a young maid came rushing over.

"Someone is here, my Lady."

"Alright, entrance hall?" Aelin inquired. The maid nodded and they set off, when they got there, someone familiar was there. _Remelle,_ he thought. _What was she doing here?_ But he didn't question it further.

Remelle walked up the steps and curtsied to the queen.

...

"Remelle!" Aelin exclaimed. "Why, how are you?"

"Good, thank you," Remelle said before hastily adding "My Lady," when she remembered that Aelin was queen of Terrasen.

"What brings you here?" he asked. Aedion knew who this woman was since she had told him but Remelle was _not_ supposed to be here.

"I thought I'd stop by," she said innocently. "I wanted to see how being queen is suiting you. You look rather fabulous, if I must say so myself."

"Oh no! Aedion and I are dead tired. We've been sneaking out at night to spar," she says dramatically. Aedion smirked, knowing this was not true but decided to play along.

"Rather unfortunately, I say, up till dawn. My queen is... determined, to say the least. She insisted we keep going till the sun rises and who am I to deny my cousin anything."

Rowan laughed. "Of course not, we shall do anything for our queen." Aelin grinned; even Rowan was playing along. Remelle looked surprised to see Rowan laugh. Aedion guessed he didn't do so often but he'd seen the prince laugh _a lot_ with Aelin; he suggested they look for food, eyes dancing with amusement. _What, you want to fight?_ Aelin asked.

He quirked his eyebrows at her. _How about it?_

...

After dinner, they talked and talked and talked some more. Aelin and Aedion were the sole consumers of the wine and had been constantly going at each other for the past hour.

"I like bananas," Aelin suddenly announced. Aedion laughed.

"And I like... I like nothing," her cousin admitted, grinning.

"Rowan, why don't you stay here with Remelle," Aelin suggested, her words slurring together adorably. "Show her the rooms. Our room. The public training yard. Everywhere but Aedion and Lysandra's quarters. Aedion and I will be fighting about something or rather in his room."

 

Joking and shoving each other, the queen and Aedion staggered off, laughing as Aedion nearly fell over when she overdid it. Rowan was watching after them fondly with Remelle sourly regarding Aelin and Aedion. _They might've had too much to drink_ , Rowan thought, amused. _Or maybe they're just acting drunk for the sake of it._

His good mood dampened when he turned back to Remelle. Why did Aelin have to leave him to deal with the woman? But as long as Aelin was happy he could accept it. He stood up and Remelle followed him to the outdoor public training yard.

"Aelin made this yard available for everyone, should they wish to come here to train themselves, so the can defend and attack. Aelin herself trains them sometimes, so when news spread that she's available, many flock here," he explained, walking around the yard. "You won't find many in Terrasen who can't defend themselves or attack using basic techniques. She's trained them well. Not up to her own professional standards, but she won't force her people to break their hand so they can become adept at swordplay and other maneuvers with both hands, as Arobynn made her do. She's not that cruel."

"Arobynn? Arobynn Hamel?" she asked, her interest peaked.

"Yes, the former King of Assassins and owner of the Assassins' Guild. He trained her personally, so she would be his most devoted and lethal protégée. She killed many for him, but, yes, Arobynn put his every effort into making sure she was _the_ best in his business." He was babbling but he didn't care. Talking about Aelin made him happy, happier than he'd been his entire life. He did as Aelin had asked; the kitchens, servants quarters, everywhere.

Then Rowan led her to the rooms he shared with Aelin.

...

Aelin and Aedion were still joking, as they'd been this past hour. About anything and everything. She could barely remember what they had been talking about.

"Maybe next time we should lay off the drinks," he suggested almost incoherently. She giggled. _Giggled?_

"Yes, probably," she replied, laughing. "What you gonna do now?" He pulled faces at her and quirked his eyebrows. She cackled with laughter. _My, my_ , she thought. _I have a hilarious cousin._ She didn't realize she had said that out loud until Aedion nudged her with an elbow. Somehow, they had ended up sprawled across his bed and he had his tunic off, claiming it was too hot. She had her head on his muscled abdomen, her hair coming loose from its braid.

"And as if you yourself aren't funny," he mocked, flicking her nose. She laughed again.

"Well, I am a notorious assassin after all," she said, putting on a strange accent.

"Yes, and I'm not attractive," he said.

"Since when! You liar, you could literally go out right now and every woman who knows you will flock to you, my dear, handsome cousin."

"Liar."

"Am not! And you know it! We look enough alike that we could be twins for gods sake, if you weren't twenty-five."

"Alright, alright. You win!" he announced.

"Win what? We weren't competing for anything!"

"Yes we were!"

"Oh do pray tell what it was?" she asked.

"Telling the truth!" he said grandly.

"Aedion! You-" she shook her head vigorously "-you are insane!"

"And you're not? If I'm insane, then so are you."

"Oh, fine. But telling the truth is hardly competition. You are either naturally honest or you're an effortless liar!"

 

"Precisely my point!"

"Then what you said a minute ago doesn't make any sense!"

"That is why I am insane, you said so yourself," he retorted.

Aelin rolled her eyes. "Aedion, I think we are drunk."

"No, of course not," he said sarcastically.

"Or we are just babbling idiots," she told him.

"Indeed, we are."

Lysandra popped her head in through the door. "May I ask _what_ you two are going on about?"

"Lysandra! Join us for a drink!"

"I'd rather not. But why not! Let's enjoy the night!" she exclaimed.

"Immensely!" they both cried, making faces and crossing their eyes.

Aelin got up, went to Aedion's cabinet and drew out a bottle of wine.

"How did you know that was there?" Aedion asked as she flopped back down on his stomach, popping the cork.

"You're my cousin, how do I _not_ know?"

Lysandra snickered and took a swig. "She's right."

"I like bananas," Aelin stated, making them all howl with laughter.

Soon, all of them were intoxicated.

"Lysandra, let's take a bath," Aelin said.

"Would you mind if I joined?" Aedion asked slyly.

"Aedion, stay out!" Lysandra replied. "Be a gentleman!"

"Never," he told them sarcastically.

...

They came back out, dripping wet. They got the servants to fetch some clothes and dressed in the bathing chamber; running around outside, they came back in with their hair a mess but dried. After they had drunk all the wine, which didn't take long and messing around some more, Lysandra staggered out the door.

"I'm going to bed," the shifter mumbled. He and Aelin laughed as she nearly ran into the wall outside his rooms. "I shall be hungover tomorrow!"

Aelin flopped down again, resting her head on his stomach yet again.

"Let's have secret code names," Aelin suggested.

"I shall be Baron Hotchshaft von Hugenstein. It's an awesome name," he announced.

"Aedion, what shall mine be?"

"Hmm... how about Lady... Heather?"

"Ugh, fine."

They joked back and forth about who they were going to kill next.

"Rowan!" he tried.

"No! Let's go find Arobynn Hamel the Second and kill him. Or her!"

"Fabulous idea, cousin!"

"Indeed."

Aelin yawned.

"Let's take a nap, Aedion."

He chuckled, "sure. Whatever you want, Aelin."

"Whatever I want?" she asked with a sly expression on her face.

"Don't you dare ask for anything stupid."

She faux pouted. "Fine. I was going to ask for a chocolate fountain."

"You could have said so! I bet Lysandra wants one too. If you find or make one, can I share it?"

"Whatever you want. And no, don't say it."

 

They laughed and Aelin snuggled close against him. Soon both their breathing evened out.

...

Rowan could hear the faint laughter of Aedion and Aelin echoing through the massive structure of the castle. Then came the shouting, back to laughing... he can just make out that they were arguing about why they were both insane. Well, Aelin made good on 'fighting about something or rather in his room', he supposed. Lysandra's voice joined in on the din, soon, they were all yelling about baths and gentlemanly behavior. Aedion must have asked whether he can join and the burn of jealousy ripped through him. _They're having fun,_ he thought, chagrinned. _And they're completely drunk._ Not fair-not fair at all to leave him stuck with Remelle.

"Rowan," Remelle said, pulling him back from where his thoughts had gone.

He sighed and glanced back to where she had been looking at the maps on his desk. Aelin had said to bring her here; perhaps she had been planning to greet Remelle properly after dinner but forgot when she got herself, Aedion and Lysandra completely intoxicated.

A laugh echoed, the voices belonging to the drunken trio in Aedion's room. After a moment, he looked out the door in time to see Lysandra stagger off to bed, mumbling something that sounded a lot like "hangover". He faintly heard his name being shouted then something about Arobynn Hamel the Second? He chuckled, but stopped when he realized that Aelin was now alone with Aedion. He had heard people talk about the use of an Ashryver-Galathynius union and the jealousy flared up, more forceful than before. He shut out the thoughts, believing that Aelin loved _him_ , not her cousin, in a romantic way.

Nonetheless, he would go check.

"Remelle, I'll be right back. I need to check on something," he told her. She opened her mouth to object but he darted out before Remelle could say anything.

He listened hard, checking for signs of life. The laughter had stopped and so had the talking. Curious as to why, he cracked open Aedion's oak doors, wincing as the doors creaked slightly. Aelin was lying against a shirtless Aedion, a hand on his muscled abdomen. Aedion was still half wearing his finery but Aelin had changed into a gown, he stared at them, thinking the worst of the situation, unable to help himself from doing so. It hurt, watching them doze; he didn't know why but it _hurt._ Aelin looked so peaceful, and Aedion too, yet still protective, he had his hand tangled in her hair. He backed out of Aedion's chambers, carefully shutting the door before leaning against it. Rowan sighed, maybe it had been a bad idea to start down this road with Aelin; maybe he wasn't ready yet, after losing Lyria.

He went back to Aelin's room.

...

Remelle watched Rowan stride out of the room, undoubtedly looking for his queen. She snorted. That queen is useless, having servants who work because they want to and letting them go if they wish. She couldn't _imagine_ how she'd manage to get Rowan to be so concerned over her.

She hated the queen. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius had taken Rowan away from her, she deserved to be called fire-breathing bitch-queen. The _queen_ had almost killed her in Mistward.

When Rowan came back, she monopolized him, forcing him to give all his attention to her.

Remelle formed a plan to break the queen. She knew that Aelin was fond of Rowan, maybe even in love with him; she would ruin the bitch's life. And make her friends watch as she does it. Finally, Rowan would see that Aelin was underserving of him; that she was better, braver and smarter.

She would ruin the Queen of Terrasen with one simple act.

...

Aelin startled awake to see Aedion's face above hers. She groaned.

"What time is it?"

"Midnight, about. Go on, out. Back to your rooms now. Don't forget to greet Remelle."

"Aedion, why can't I stay here?" she complained.

"Because your prince will get jealous," he said, eyes dancing with amusement.

"You're kidding me. I've got a hell of a headache and you want me to get out of your bed?"

"Yep," he grinned. "Your headache isn't my fault; you're the one who chose to drink the night away. Plus, I've got my own headache. So you can get out or sleep on the couch."

"Godsdamn you, Aedion," she muttered before flinging back the covers and lurching to the door. He chuckled in response.

"See you tomorrow, sweetheart." Aelin turned back around in time to see him flop back into bed and immediately fall asleep; she shook her head, smiling. But tonight had been fun, despite the raging headache; drinking the night away had been hilariously dumb of her but she had nothing to do tomorrow so she can sleep in. _What a relief,_ Aelin thought as she stumbled her way towards her room.

...

Rowan had just gotten back when Remelle came up to him, the scent of lust hitting him; slightly perturbed, he step around her. Expecting Aelin not to come back anytime soon, he walked around to his desk and organized her schedule for the next week, when she would be giving the speeches.

Remelle drags him to his feet. Rowan stepped back, but she followed. He kept trying to back away but Remelle had cornered him to the front of the bed. Rowan knew he wasn't trying hard enough but he couldn't find it in himself to back away. He wanted a distraction from the slight ache in his chest.

The ache from missing Aelin even though she was only on the other side of the castle. The ache from seeing her so happy with Aedion.

The hurt and fear of losing her.

...

Remelle had cornered Rowan, just as she'd planned, sensing that the queen will return soon. They were standing in plain view of the door; she had waited, waited until she can just vaguely make out stumbling steps and moved closer to Rowan.

Her plan had fallen in place without a problem. The queen will be here to witness this and it will break her.

And Rowan will finally be hers, as he should have been all along.

...

Rowan only had time to hear someone staggering outside before Remelle kissed him, full on the mouth.

Maybe it was surprise or maybe it was his want of a distraction, but he kissed her back, his hand going to her hair.

_Maybe this would be better,_ he thought. _I can have Remelle instead of Aelin. It'll work better, right?_

Aelin's scent hit him and he glanced up surprised. He hadn't expected her to come back. Not while she had been asleep with Aedion.

Aelin's scent held a world of hurt and self-hatred. He blinked and she was gone, as if she hadn't even been there. Rowan just shrugged before Remelle kissed him again, demanding entrance to his mouth. He didn't realize Aelin had actually been there and she was already heartbroken over what he was doing.

When he did, he pulled away but it was too late. Aelin was already gone. He had already lost her, before he even got her.

 

 

 


	7. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha yeah, hate Remelle guys.
> 
> ... PLease don't kill me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!!!!!! Even longer! Phew. Good gods, I had to spend some time on both my phone and laptop to write this... Anyways, enjoy!

 

 

Aelin walked in to her room in time to see Remelle lift her face and kissed Rowan. She expected him to pull away but he didn't; instead, he kissed her back, stroking her blonde hair. A painful ache flared in her chest and tears filled her eyes.

She fled from the room, unable to bear the image of them together. Aelin lurched to the only other who could understand, the one who she trusted above all others. To one she had been bonded with since birth, someone who she hated to be separated from. Aedion.

She went to the west branch of the castle, nearly sprinting before she was halfway there.

The lights were on so she knocked. Waiting, the tears leaked out.

...

Aedion was working on some plans when a knock sounded. He sniffed before calling out, "come in." The scent belonged to Aelin and she stood in his doorway, her eyes glazed over with pain and tears on her face; she had been so happy hours before, even just minutes.

He stood up immediately and gathered into his arms. Leading her to the bed, her face filled with agony and grief. His cousin, who had always been steadfast and reliable not to break down, sat down staring at her lap.

Aedion wrapped an arm around her shoulders. _What happened?_ he asked.

"Rowan and Remelle," she choked out, "were in my room-" Aelin couldn't finish but he got the message. _That bastard_. He's going to kill the Prince.

"Oh, Aelin," he murmured. "He's an idiot."

She started saying something but her voice cracked. He lifted her up, clambered into bed and set her in his lap. Laying his cheek on top of her head, she sobbed her heart out until there were no tears left.

"Can I stay with you from now on?" she asked, her voice strangled.

"Of course, my dear Aelin," he told her. "Anything. Anytime." She nodded her thanks and her breath hitched then broke. When they evened out, she was asleep. He lay there with the last of the Galathynius line in his lap, her head on his chest. He sighed, his poor Aelin. Always hurt by someone she loved. He hoped to hell that he would never do that. He was certain he wouldn't.

He was going to rutting kill that prince.

...

Rowan had looked up in time to see Aelin back out, hurt obvious in her scent, then hadn't realized why until a moment later. Aedion was going to kill him for that if she tells him. Remelle pulled his head back to hers but he pushed her away and sat down on the bed, head in his hands.

Remelle asked what was wrong and he waved her away. She actually had the nerve to lie down on Aelin's bed and promptly fell asleep.

He had never wanted to hurt her. But he had, so badly. He had promised never to hurt her. As if their bonds were a living thing, Aelin's agony barreled into him, Aedion's anger washed in. But suddenly they disappeared as if Aelin had stopped feeling, as if Aedion had forgiven him.

He was so dead. Gods.

What had he the done?

...

Aedion's cousin stayed with him that night. Aelin stayed in his chambers the day after, unable to face the outside world. Lysandra came by a few times, sensing something was wrong; Aelin left for a bit to go to Lysandra's for "girl talk", then came back smiling faintly. She deserved the comfort and teasing with Lysandra, perhaps more than anyone. When she came back, he had lunch ready for her; after that, they trained together. Aelin had had a personal courtyard built for him too, equipped with everything hers had.

 

"I am not using magic," she announced before they started. "Because I want to have an even field with you."

He laughed. Typical Aelin. She picked daggers and throwing knives as well as fighting knives. Then she launched herself at him. She moved like a midnight storm: strong, fast and lethal. He could see why people called her Queen of the Underworld and Adarlan's Assassin; if given proper targets, she would eliminate them without a problem. Aedion wondered if a new replacement had risen up in her place to become the next Queen of the Underworld; he highly doubted it. The King of Assassins, the best there was, had trained Aelin. He'd had her shipped off to the Silent Assassins of the Red Desert, gifted her with an assassin's suit fitted and measure to her. Every type of training imaginable; even made her break her hand so she could use both hands in combat. Aedion knew that she could make clean shots in more than a mile; she had told him about her days eliminating targets for Arobynn, ever the loyal prodigy.

He'd been too distracted and she landed a punch, which broke his nose. Aedion readjusted his nose, knowing that his Fae heritage will heal it, and lunged back. They danced back and forth, the other gaining advantage before losing again; he was taller and more powerful but she was faster and more graceful. He and Aelin were evenly matched in combat.

They paused panting, eyes on each other's movements. She quirked an eyebrow. _Off?_

He nodded in assent. They needed to get ready for dinner, dusk approached at a steady pace. They took turns washing up and he was walking around without a shirt for a good half-hour, since Aelin took _forever_ to bath. When she came out, she was already wearing a dress with long trailing white sleeves, an indigo bodice, the skirts spotted and streaked with orchid purple. He smirked.

"Your love of clothes hasn't changed, has it," he asked mockingly. She laughed; gods it was a relief to hear her laugh and she handed him a dark navy tunic with gold embroidery.

"Never," she told him. Resigned, he pulled the tunic over his head and offered her his arm. She flashed her teeth at him and he chuckled, but she took his arm and they dramatically swept out his chambers.

On the way, they ran into Lysandra and Evangeline, the red-gold haired girl wore a simple dress of white, in stark contrast to her hair. Lysandra was wearing something similar to Aelin's but in shades of green, which brought out her green eyes. Aelin grinned at the once-courtesan-and-now-Lady and hooked their arms together, Evangeline following suit. Aelin whispered something to Lysandra that made her eyes narrow. Aedion thought it best not to ask what, he wouldn't want a certain ghost leopard jumping at him later.

When they went in to the Great Hall, Rowan and Remelle were nowhere to be seen. That rutting asshole. He was going to murder the Prince. Lysandra and Aelin were talking about whether they should do the speech the day after.

"Maybe not," he interjected. "Not yet." The look he gave his cousin said why. She nodded her agreement. Elide entered silently, laden with a plates of fruit. Aelin jumped up to help and set the platers down before them.

"That's good," Lysandra added. "I do _not_ want my best friend going into her past like this." His mouth twitched into a smile. Aelin deserved to have Lysandra as her best friend, and vice versa. They understood each other. He was glad she had found a girl companion.

The servants, of their own will of course, brought in the rest of the food. The three of them dug in.

When they had finished, Aelin announced, "I am going to die from eating so much!"

He, Lysandra and Elide agreed. They exchanged light banter for a bit before dessert came. It was chocolate cake.

"Chocolate!" Lysandra exclaimed in delight. "And I don't need to worry about minding what I eat!" They laughed.

 

Just when they were about to start on the chocolate cake, Rowan and Remelle walked in. Aelin took one look, paled and stood from the table. Aedion could tell that she barely stopped herself from running out, unable to stay near with the pair around. He and Lysandra shared a look and she nodded for him to go after her. He stood up and calmly walked out, purposefully passing the idiot of a prince on the way. A hand on his shoulder made him turn around and he found himself glowering at the male.

"Go hurt someone else," he said harshly before shrugging off the prince's hand and in pursuit of his cousin.

...

Rowan stared after Aedion, stunned. He'd thought that he and Aedion had gotten over their differences, bonded over their overprotectiveness of their queen; maybe in accidentally hurting Aelin, he had lost Aedion's trust too.

He turned to the table to see Lysandra glaring at him, lethal rage in her eyes. If looks could kill, he'd be dead by now. Dinner passed awkwardly, Remelle chattering cheerfully beside him, oblivious, Lysandra and Elide beyond infuriated with him.

It was a relief when they left the hall, but Lysandra wasn't done. She dragged him off into an abandoned corridor before whirling around.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"I didn't mean to hurt-" he started but she hissed at him.

"You did more than just _hurt_ her, Prince, _you broke my best friend!"_ she yelled at him. "She's been broken enough! How dare you add to her burdens!

"You could have told her you weren't interested!" she went on. "Instead you led her on! She's been head over heels in love with you ever since we got back, and now you had to go and break her heart! For that piece of shit woman!" By the end, she was full on screaming at him.

"I-"

"She's going to have to tell her people about her past and you just messed her up!"

"Remelle isn't-" he began but she shrieked at him with tears glazing her eyes and stormed off, shifting into a ghost leopard halfway through a step.

...

Rowan went back to once-Aelin's room to find Remelle already asleep on the bed, wearing one of Aelin's nightgowns.

This was beginning to feel normal, and it shouldn't. It shouldn't, not when Aelin was a wreck over what he had done and was still doing. Not when she had been avoiding him for the past few days. Not when Aedion and Lysandra were infuriated with him. But it did, and he didn't know what that meant about himself.

He slept on the couch, unable to bear sleeping next to Remelle, in the bed where Aelin's scent still lingered. It tore holes through his heart and he didn't know how to stop it.

He was glad when sleep took over, Rowan hoped he could dream of somewhere where he hadn't hurt Aelin, hadn't enraged Aedion and Lysandra beyond belief.

He hoped Aelin would forgive him. He doubted she would but hoped for it all the same. He gave up on sleep after that, his mind too active to relax, and padded out towards Aedion's chambers.

...

Aedion looked everywhere for his cousin and, to his relief, found her sitting on the steps to the courtyard in his room, still in her finery. Her head was down and her shoulders curled defensively, he sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her, resting his cheek on her head. Tears dripped into her lap, and some were staining her face.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, the door creaked open and Aedion glanced up when Lysandra came in as a ghost leopard and shifted back, a look of pure rage on her face. He guess she'd chewed the Prince out. Serves him right.

 

Lysandra's face softened when she spied him and Aelin sitting on the steps. She sat down on Aelin's other side, her delicate arm coming round her shoulders. Sitting together, the watched the sunset, which brought out spectacular clouds of orange, yellow, red and gold.

The door cracked open tentatively, and he and Lysandra watched as Evangeline peeked in.

"Can I come in?" the girl asked hesitantly. When they nodded, she closed the door and came over, curling up on the step above Aelin. Evangeline softly asked Aelin whether she can play with her hair; Aelin swallowed before nodding. Elide came in and sat beside the girl, laying a hand on Aelin's back.

Evangeline's fingers expertly braided her hair then undid it. Then re-plaiting it, before undoing it again. This went on for quite some time, until Evangeline plaited the queen's hair into an intricate updo. The girl started standing up to get some pins when-

Unexpectedly, another knocked sounded. He, Lysandra, Evangeline and Elide shared a look. Evangeline was too young to know what heartache was like but she was old enough to know that Rowan had broken Aelin. That he had hurt her beyond what she can endure.

"Evangeline, stay with Aelin," Lysandra told her ward before standing up. The young girl nodded and sat down next to Aelin, leaning her head on the queen's shoulder as elide exited the chamber through another door off in the hallway.

Aedion and Lysandra stalked over to the door, their fury growing with every step. When Aedion reached the door before the shifter, he flung it open to see a certain Fae male standing there. Lysandra stalked past him and Aedion followed suit, motioning for him to come with them. Rowan paused, glancing at the queen with an expression of-sorrow?-in his eyes, and upon seeing the red-gold head resting on Aelin's shoulder, he backed out.

They were going to settle this.

...

Evangeline was left alone with the sad queen.

"My lady," she said. "Do you wish me to bring you anything?" The sky beyond had darkened into a velvety blue.

"Dear Evangeline, I only wish that this pain would go away," the queen lamented. "That I can stop feeling this terrible ache every time I see him." She guessed him referred to Rowan.

"It's what makes us human," Evangeline told the Aelin. "That we can feel pain, loss, fear. And love; without love, there would be little point in living."

The queen huffed a laugh that might've been a sob. "Love?"

"Well, you love Aedion, Lysandra, Ren. Your parents, Elide, your uncle. Chaol and Dorian. Sam. Lady Marion. Love does not stop when someone dies. You know this."

"When did you become so wise, young Evangeline?" she murmured sadly.

"Oh, I would not call myself wise," she replied lightly. "Only that I have lived enough to know. You have lived longer, so you have experienced more. As we grow, we learn. To love, to heal, to survive the pain that comes with loss."

The queen gave her a soft hug, surprising the girl.

"Thank you," Aelin whispered. "For saying that. I needed to hear it."

Hesitantly, Evangeline returned the embrace. When Aelin pulled away, she was smiling faintly.

"Now my sweet child, what books have you read?" she asked. She named a few and the queen grinned.

"Do you like C.S Lewis? If you do, we shall be great friends."

She nodded. "I absolutely adore the Chronicles of Narnia!"

 

"Who's your favorite character?"

"How dare you ask that!" Evangeline laughed. "You know we can never, ever pick one! They always change!"

Aelin grinned. "Precisely why I asked. I love Aslan though. He's one of favorites."

"Ooh, yes! And Susan, I love how she can shoot so far-she's like you! But it's so sad she stopped believing in Narnia. She and Caspian had been in love."

Aelin pouted. "You had to bring that up. Nearly all of them were reunited in the last book though. It was so funny and cute but sad at the same time, that the adventure has come to an end."

The conversation carried on for an hour, until Aelin noticed it had gotten cold and they went in, shutting the doors.

Evangeline realized the queen had been right. They would become great friends. She and the queen bonded over banter on books, authors and their many misdemeanors over the years.

They somehow got back to the topic of books.

"I think books are for people who wish to be somewhere else," Aelin commented.

"You're right," she agreed. "Books are another world we can escape to, to be in another adventure instead of the pain of life."

"They're not just stories. They never are. They're all real for us book lovers. They always will be."

Evangeline nodded. She agreed wholeheartedly with the queen.

...

Rowan followed Aedion and Lysandra as they stalked towards Aelin's room. He felt a stab of fear at the thought that they were going after Remelle. _What the rutting hell is wrong with you?_ Common Sense inquired. _One minute you're head over heels for Aelin and now you want Remelle back?_

Rowan hung his head. Common Sense was right; what is wrong with him, playing with Aelin's hopes like that. He had no right to do so, no one did.

"Aedion, her Majesty's former courtyard," Lysandra snapped. "We're having a duel."

Only a fool would think Aedion's grin came from amusement.

When they got there, Remelle was still asleep in... Aelin's bed-he winced inwardly. Lysandra and the General shot her poisonous looks that sent a shiver down Rowan's spine.

Aedion drew the sword of Orynth as Lysandra shifted onto a ghost leopard, her favorite form. Without warning, the shifter lunged; Rowan wasn't fast enough to dodge her and four long scratches appeared on his arm. It hurt but he had endured worse, and Aedion stabbed towards his shoulder, he ducked in time that the blow wasn't fatal. He hadn't had enough time to scent Lysandra from behind him before her teeth pierced the spot between his neck and shoulder. He yelped as he unsheathed the daggers that he kept hidden on him. Even with all his training, he was no match for a shifter and the Wolf of the North, not when they were beyond angry. At him, because he had broken Aelin, when he had promised- _sworn_ -to never do so.

Aedion's sword clanged as they met his daggers and Lysandra circled around them both, snarling and hissing. Aedion bared his teeth.

"Bastard." Lysandra just threw daggers with her eyes, snarling even more violently than before.

The noise had woken Remelle up and she panicked when she saw him bleeding profusely, fighting with a ghost leopard and the Wolf incarnate. She rushed over to help, wearing one of Aelin's nightgowns but Lysandra pounced, dragging Remelle away by the neck of the gown. His distraction cost him. Aedion slashed a long slice down his pectoral. Aedion danced out of the way of the spray of blood, not a spot on him.

 

Rowan knew Aedion had slipped into the killing calm and when he was this angered, Aedion would feel nothing for him.

...

Lysandra had dragged a screeching Remelle off back to Aelin's room. Remelle was terrified that a ghost leopard was attacking her then Lysandra shifted again, back into her finery, right before becoming Aedion. It was strange, seeing as Aedion was a few meters away, battling Rowan. She decided that maybe a female form would be better and shifted back to her 'actual' form before dragging the other female to the bathroom. The makeup Remelle always wore was smudged, making her look terrible. Lysandra snarled at her when she tried going for the door and she sat back down on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lysandra hissed at the female. "Do you think it's _funny_ to make us watch our queen break down?"

"N-no," the woman replied, stuttering too brokenly, too perfectly. _LIAR._ "I didn't do anything."

"Oh, so making Rowan believe he loves you isn't something you planned?" she asked snidely. This woman had no idea how cruel she can become when someone hurts her friends.

"I-I didn't do that," she said, her voice shaking. "He loves me of his own free will."

Lysandra cocked an eyebrow at her menacingly. "So, one second Rowan is head over heels for Aelin, everything is great, then you come into the picture and suddenly he loves _you?"_ she spat.

This woman... willing to betray her own sex to get what she wanted. _Bitch_ , she thought savagely.

...

Remelle was terrified. A shape-shifter ghost leopard had nearly torn her throat out, and the crazy ghost leopard girl was snarling whether she thought hurting the queen was funny.

Rowan was injured and this woman wouldn't let her go to help. She had seen through Remelle's plans too easily, sensing what had happened with a woman's sharp intuition. Yet Remelle continued to lie.

This woman will pay for interfering, so will the golden-haired male outside that was hurting Rowan.

...

Rowan knew he deserved being injured by Aelin's soul-twin that he didn't fight back.

"Fight back, you coward!" Aedion yelled at him. "Fight back, you rutting _coward!"_

When he didn't respond, Aedion just glared at him and stalked off, wiping the blood from his sword. Rowan's blood.

...

Lysandra had gotten the truth from the fucking useless woman named Remelle. The cowardly bitch had thought it would be funny to break the queen and make them watch. Remelle wanted Rowan for herself so she devised this plan to separate the prince from the queen; she was insane, screaming that Rowan belonged to her.

"A person doesn't belong to anyone but themselves. You should know that, idiot," Lysandra said contemptuously. "I could kill you now but I won't; Aelin deserves your death blow but I doubt she'll do it. So I shall hand it do Aedion, the queen's cousin."

Without another word, she strode out, locking the door from outside so Remelle couldn't get out. Rowan can dig her out if he cares so much, the bastard.

She couldn't find it in herself now to forgive the prince, or to ever trust him with Aelin ever again.

...

Aelin and Evangeline had fallen asleep curled up on the couch, their hands entwined when Aedion got back to his room. He was still in a shit mood from the 'duel' with the prince but his expression softened when he beheld the queen, some joy evident in her face. He flopped down in front of the couch, waiting for Lysandra. Lysandra came in a few moments later; she looked pissed off. Extremely pissed off.

 

"That-" she started but stopped when she noticed him pressing a finger to his lips, gesturing to the pair behind him. Aedion motioned for them to talk outside.

The queen couldn't possibly hear but Lysandra kept her voice down all the same. In whispers, she explained how Remelle had planned for this, all so she can have Rowan, that she wanted to distance the queen from him, and that she thought it would be funny to make them watch Aelin break down.

"Fucking bitch," he swore. "Sorry Lysandra."

She just waved off his apology for the rough language. "I want to swear my head off at her right now, so it doesn't matter if you do. In fact, you can swear for me too.

"I also told her you get her killing blow," she went on. "Because you're Aelin's cousin. Rowan can't do it since he's still attached, so he might spare her-"

"Coward and a bastard. A cowardly bastard," he interrupted. "He wouldn't fight back because of some noble crap."

"I know," Lysandra sighed. "I want to murder him myself. I don't think we can ever trust him with Aelin ever again. Actually, I don't trust him anymore, period."

"Neither do I," he admitted. "Whether he knows it or not, he's lost everything from us."

"I have a feeling he knows, but he just won't accept it."

"Maybe because he believes that Aelin still loves him, no matter what he's done," Aedion suggested.

"That may have been true once, but not anymore. I can't see anything but hurt in her gaze whenever Rowan's near."

"I can see the guilt," he added. "Maybe she regrets ever liking him in the first place, or thinks that maybe this was how it should have been. I should stop talking, I sound cruel."

Lysandra laughed under her breath. "Don't shut up, Aedion. We're in the middle of a conversation."

He shook his head. "We'll talk more about this more tomorrow. _After_ we see if Rowan's healed himself."

"Yes. One thing though, I locked Remelle in Aelin's old bathroom," she said, raising an eyebrow, a mischievous grin appearing. "If he unlocks the door, he shall never hear the end of it from us and Evangeline."

"Yes, and the servants, our people, everyone. Anyways, Aelin seems happier after talking with Evangeline, doesn't she?"

Lysandra smiled. "I agree; maybe we should have Evangeline visit her daily. I expect that Aelin will be staying here from now on."

He nodded. No way was he going to let Rowan near their queen. "Evangeline and Aelin have no doubt been talking about books. You've said she's become an avid reader."

"Hai, maybe we should have Evangeline stay as well," she said mockingly. Aedion shook his head vehemently.

"No. I will not have her see me walking around shirtless," he frowned.

"Or we can just have Aelin move in with Evangeline." Lysandra smirked.

"Come on! Can't we just talk about this tomorrow?"

She chuckled under her breath. "All right, Aedion."

He and Lysandra went in, shutting the doors softly as to not disturb the pair on his couch. "Good night, Lady."

She curtsied. "General."

...

Remelle was pounding on the door for Rowan to let her out and he couldn't even bother to get up. All his mind could focus on was Aedion and Lysandra, both attacking him, then Aedion yelling at him, the bridge of his nose scrunched up in a snarl, teeth bared.

 

_"Bastard," he said simply. Lysandra shot Rowan a glare that showed she agreed with Aedion._ He earned that.

_Aedion bared his teeth at him, snarling. Lysandra circling and hissing._

_"Fight back, you coward!"_ He deserved to be called that too.

His mind wouldn't stop replaying the scene; and for the first time in his life, he felt shame burn through him. They would never trust him again. Ever. With Aelin, with themselves. He had lost everything with only himself to blame. _And Remelle?_ Common Sense asked. _What's her part in this?_

Common Sense was right. What _was_ Remelle's part in this? Was she to blame for his hurting Aelin? She might. After all, Aelin had interfered in his behalf in Mistward; she might hold a grudge against her for that and used him to get to her. As he puzzled it out, Lysandra knocked and he jumped, not having heard the shape-shifter.

"Hey, Rowan," she greeted him. "I imagine you heard some of my screaming at the bitch." She chuckled under her breath.

Bitch? Oh, she meant Remelle. "Hello, Lysandra. Yes I did, but why are you calling her that?" he asked warily. Rowan suspected that Remelle _had_ used him and wanted a second opinion.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were smart," she replied, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Would you mind telling me?"

"Sure," she consented. "But on one condition."

"Anything," he confirmed. He was desperate.

...

Lysandra had been walking back to her section of the castle, having left Evangeline at Aedion's for the night when she decided to drop in on the Fae Prince.

She'd poked her head in and he had been gazing hollowly at the ground. No doubt coming to the conclusion that he had lost the four of them; maybe he was figuring out whether Remelle had anything to do with this. _Might as well,_ she thought. _Maybe then he will realize what an idiot he's being._

Rowan jumped when she knocked, looking up to the door, confusion in his eyes. She raised an eyebrow; he hadn't heard her or scented her. Unusual for a Fae warrior.

"Hey, Rowan," she said. "I imagine you heard some of my screaming at the bitch." She snorted knowing she had indeed been screaming at the woman.

"Hello Lysandra. Yes, I did," Rowan replied warily. "But why are you calling her that?"

Her eyes narrowed. Was he kidding? Does he not see that Remelle loves seeing Aelin like this? "Haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were smart," she said.

"Would you mind telling me?" he asked. Wow, she couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out yet. She'd have to tell him, he'd never consider Remelle had something to do with this.

"Sure," she said then thought of a condition he must adhere to. "But on one condition."

"Anything."

_Here it goes._ "You have to either kill Remelle or threaten her badly enough that she never hurts Aelin _ever again._ "

Rowan gaped at her, not believing she had just said that. She gave him a pointed look in the direction towards Aedion's rooms; realization dawned on his expression as he understood for whom what she had requested. _All this,_ she thought. _All this for Aelin._

He nodded. Immediately, he asked, "What does Remelle have to do with Aelin?"

"Remelle... holds a grudge against my queen," she started. He winced, having caught the words _my queen._ Not our.

"She admitted to wanting to separate you from Aelin, believing that you belong to her," Lysandra went on. "She used your... past relationship with Aelin to get to her before hogging your attention."

He flinched again when she said past relationship. Lysandra pitied him but it was true; Remelle had exploited then ruined that bond.

She was going to exclude anything that mentioned Aelin being happier now. She wanted him to stew for a while longer.

 

 


	8. Explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Btw, do you guys want to ask questions and stuff???)
> 
> EXTRA LONG CHAPTER CUZ I WENT OVERBOARD 
> 
> ENJOY!

 

She had been in this damn bathroom for more than an hour! Remelle had expected that Rowan would free her but no, he probably wasn't even in the room. _Running off to comfort the queen now that he knew my plan_ , she fumed. _It wasn't fair._

Half an hour later, a female voice sounded through the door. She didn't recognize it for a few minutes until she realized it was the shifter woman; this voice sounded much gentler than when they had 'spoken' earlier. She heard her name being mentioned in what the female was saying and Remelle realized that Rowan was in the room. She grew furious that he had been here all this time and hadn't bothered to free her.

"Let me out!" she screamed, pounding on the door. The voices grew silent before starting up again. _What the hell?_ she thought, annoyed that they weren't going to help her.

...

Rowan's shoulders slumped as Lysandra explained what had happened with Remelle, settling down next to him on the bed.

"Remelle hold a grudge against my queen," she said. He recoiled slightly— _my queen._ Not our, not anymore. "She admitted to wanting to separate you from Aelin, believing that you belong to her. She used your past relationship with Aelin to get to her before hogging your attention."

He flinched again as she said past. But she was right, he _had_ lost Aelin. Lysandra continued relentlessly.

"She thought it would be funny to make Aedion, Evangeline, Elide and I watch Aelin, so she used you to get you, if you know what I mean."

They longer they talked, the sadder he felt. Maybe he _should_ apologize and beg for her forgiveness.

"I want to fix this but I don't know how," he admitted. Lysandra paused, looking surprised.

"You could apologize, I suppose," she said, voicing his thoughts. "But I doubt she will forgive you. I've only seen hurt in her eyes every time she's seen you or Remelle. Or you _and_ Remelle together." She hesitated before continuing in a gentler tone, "Aedion says he's seen guilt but we don't know what the guilt is for. So far, Evangeline is the only one she's spoken openly with. Aedion and I know what happened of course, she's told us. Just saying, Aedion still wants to kill you and so do I."

Lysandra shut up and kept him company for a good half hour when Remelle pounded on the door again, screaming to be let out. The shape-shifter gave him a challenging look, as if daring him to unlock the door. Rowan realized that _Lysandra_ had been the one to lock her in there and that this was a test. To see who he cared about more. It was against a male's duty and honor to not help a female in danger but it didn't mean he couldn't just let her stay in there for a while, as long she had what she needs to survive.

Lysandra spoke up, "Well?"

Rowan shook his head. "No. I do _not_ want to feel shittier about myself right now."

She gave him a doubting look. "Sure."

"Anyways, back to the topic. What do I _do?"_

The conversation carried for what felt like the whole night, but was really just an hour, about what he could do to earn their trust again and, more importantly, to win Aelin back. Lysandra bade him goodnight and exited but before she left, she hesitated at the door.

"I shouldn't tell you this," she said. "But she's happier now, with Evangeline." He nodded to show he had heard while staring down at the ground. He heard the whisper of fabric as she left, her steps echoing. He pondered for a while about what he should do: apologize, beg, plead... anything he was willing to try.

He gave up as one thought kept nagging at him. _So far, Evangeline is the only one she's spoken openly with._ At least she was talking but Aelin was shutting him out. Maybe for good; it hurt but who's to say he hasn't earned it. He changed his clothes and healed himself as he went out into the hallway, padding down to Aedion's. Knocking softly, he waited. To his surprise, Aedion did answer the door a few seconds later, half-naked that is. The queen's cousin raised his eyebrows.

"No Remelle?" he asked, aggravated.

...

Aedion had opened the door for Rowan, having scented the warrior when he knocked quietly. He deliberated on whether he could talk to the prince without losing his temper.

"No Remelle?" he asked, still annoyed at the prince for throwing the fight earlier. Rowan just shook his head in response. _Ah, still locked up. Bitch deserves it._ Somehow, he heard those thoughts and more but didn't comment or berate him.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked timidly.

"Okay," he said, hesitant as to what Rowan would want to talk about. He pursed his lips and gestured for the Fae prince to come into the darkened room. When Rowan saw the queen on his couch, he froze.

His brows knotted slightly when he saw who else slept there. Aedion smirked slightly.

...

_Aelin_. She was here. Rowan hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her until the weight of it came crashing down. The heir of Mala Fire-Bringer was asleep, her face peaceful as she slumbered on Aedion's gigantic couch next to— _Evangeline_. Lysandra had casually forgotten to mention Evangeline was staying over too and Aedion quirked an eyebrow, daring him to ask aloud. Glancing over to the oak doors, he asked silently if they could go outside. The Ashryver male nodded in response, carefully and quietly cracking open one of the heavy doors. Moonlight spilled into the shadowy chamber and he blinked, adjusting to the light. Their clothes whispered against their skin as they slipped out into the night. When they reached the other end of Aedion's courtyard furthest from the door, Aedion halted and crossed his arms.

"What do you want?" he asked flatly.

"To apologize." He decided to go with Lysandra's suggestion, saving the others for when he spoke to Aelin; Aedion looked downright shocked since Aelin had told him he rarely ever bothered with such things.

"What for, hmm?" Aedion's face had rearranged itself into a blank mask.

"I—" he stopped, taking a deep breath before spitting it out, "—I apologize for hurting Aelin. I never meant to."

"It's not me who you need to apologize to, Prince," Aedion replied. His shoulders slumped; he had hoped that this would be enough for Aedion to forgive him. "But I will forgive you, for now," the queen's soul-twin continued. Rowan looked up to see Aedion smiling faintly.

"Thank you," he sighed. It was a relief to learn that this was enough for now; he would work on more later. For now...

"I'll tell her," Aedion added. "What you've said." He gave the young male a grateful look yet he felt like _he_ should be the one who tells Aelin. They went back in and Aedion pushed the door shut, plunging the room into darkness yet again; he blinked and his eyes readjusted to see Aelin and Evangeline still asleep on the couch. _Why didn't you move her?_ he asked Aedion.

 

The male rolled his eyes. _I didn't want to disturb her, or Evangeline._ Aedion's face had softened, a look where rarely anyone outside of their small family ever saw. Rowan highly doubted the court had ever seen him like this. Aedion gave him a nudge and he realized he had been staring at the queen; shaking his head to clear his mind, he headed out.

"Enjoy dealing with Remelle," Aedion chuckled. "If I hear a word that you've kissed her again, you're dead."

_I don't doubt it._ The Ashryver prince flashed his teeth before shutting the door. Rowan went back to his room, content enough that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, Aelin's scent caressing his nose, his senses. Remelle's scent was there too but he couldn't focus on it, only on Aelin's.

...

Evangeline woke up, blinking at the sunlight in the room. Aelin was awake, been awake for a while, setting breakfast on the table in a suite off to the side of this chamber. Aedion was nowhere to be seen; he's probably messing around somewhere.

"Morning," the queen greeted her brightly. Evangeline got off Aedion's couch and stretched.

"Morning, Aelin. How are you?" The queen's smile faltered, knowing she was talking about Rowan.

"I'm... fine, I suppose. I can scent him though; he was here, probably late last night or early this morning," Aelin said. Evangeline frowned, sniffing delicately. She was right, a trace of the pine-and-snow scent that belonged to Rowan snaked around and went to the courtyard door; she had somehow inherited Lysandra's sharp senses, which was odd, since they had no relatives in common. Maybe a distant ancestor might be the cause, and had chosen to manifest in her now; but her senses weren't as sharp as the Fae.

"Once I get hold of him, I will kill him," she speculated. Rowan's probably already been chewed out by both Aedion and Lysandra. Ren's gone to Perranth to deal with the criminals there and won't be coming back for at least another month, so he won't know until he gets back— Aelin paled slightly; Evangeline knew that she still harbored _some_ feelings for Rowan, though she won't admit it, even if he had broken her heart. Even if he didn't return them.

"I won't really do it," she assured the queen. "I bet Aedion and Lysandra have already done that for us."

"Alright." Aelin sashayed over, bearing multiple plates of food and set them on the table. "Breakfast is ready." Once they ate, they set out in search of Aedion. They had looked absolutely everywhere and were about to give up when he sprang at Aelin from behind while they were walking down one of the numerous hallways.

They both squealed, causing a half-naked Aedion to double over with laughter.

"Aedion!" Aelin cried in delight. "Where have you been?"

...

Aelin had caught a whiff of her cousin's scent just before he pounced on her and Evangeline. The two shrieked and turned around, in time to see Aedion hunch over, laughing.

"Aedion! Where have you been?" Just then, she noticed his bare torso gleamed with water and she raised an eyebrow.

"Rowan and I were walking near the lake and he pushed me in," he explained. Beside her, Evangeline giggled.

"Fae beasts," she commented. "And why are you still wet?"

"I just came in, what did you expect? I had to take my shirt off or I'll get sick." He frowned at them.

"I don't think so," Evangeline piped up. "I think you just took your shirt off so the females would swoon over you."

She and Aedion laughed, but what the girl had said was true. Aedion was _very_ impressively built; powerful shoulders, heavily muscled, towering and an overwhelmingly handsome face: the inherited stunning turquoise eyes with a core of gold, full lips, arching eyebrows and high cheekbones. Aedion grinned at them both, startlingly white teeth showing.

 

"Well, I have to go get changed," he announced before padding off, leaving puddles behind. Aelin rolled her eyes, watching the servants flit around, mopping up after him. Just then, Elide came out of her suite, dressed in a fine tunic of gold and black pants, her hair loose. Evangeline tugged on the girl's sleeve and Elide knelt down.

"Can I do your hair, Lady Elide?" she asked. Elide glanced at Aelin and the queen gave a small nod.

"Alright, let's go back to my room," Elide suggested, giving Aelin one last apologetic look. She just waved them off.

"Go. Enjoy yourselves." The two headed, Evangeline asking what hairstyle she wants. Left by herself, she headed alone to the dining hall. Aelin sensed his presence even before scenting him; before she knew it, she was turning around in response to a hand on her shoulder. The smell of pine and snow registered. She flinched, seeing the male. _Rowan._

...

Aelin turned to him, flinching, those stunning Ashryver eyes terribly hollow. Rowan swallowed hard but before he could say anything, the queen's cousin appeared at her side, hair rumpled and damp, wearing fresh clothes. The Ashryver general laid a hand on Aelin's arm and she spun back, eyes lighting up again as she saw Aedion. Her focus slipped to over her cousin's shoulder and pure delight filled her face when she beheld Lysandra, Elide, Evangeline and, surprisingly, Ren Allsbrook behind the young general. The slightly older lord and another general wasn't supposed to be back from Perranth for another month.

"Ren? What are you doing back?" Aelin asked, unknowingly voicing his thoughts. The sole heir of the Allsbrook family gestured down to his light armor.

"Turns out I didn't need that many months to deal with the thieves in Perranth," Ren explained. "I left a few days ago and got here somewhere around twelve."

"When I saw him milling around the entrance hall like a sad bastard," Lysandra interjected. "We came to meet up with Aedion then ran into the others." She made a hand gestured towards the red-gold haired girl and the now-Lady Elide.

The latter male nodded and Aelin grinned at her cousin and darted forward to hug him before planting a kiss on his cheek. Color creeped up the male's face, grinning slightly, Aedion slung his arm around Aelin's shoulders and folded her into his side. Ren excuses himself to get changed, but not before Aelin gave him a hug and a kiss too. The young lord's ears turned red as he back out, slightly embarrassed. The heir pivoted and half ran towards the sectors he shared with Aedion, flushed and smiling. Evangeline tugged on the queen's sleeve and Aelin crouched down; whispering something into her ear, Aelin laughed. Aedion dropped his hand on her hair, smiling down at the pair; Rowan felt like an outsider, intruding on something private and that he didn't really exist for them. He started slightly as Aelin rose, the girl's hand in hers as they headed in the general direction of the library. Aedion raised his eyebrows when he subconsciously followed after them, right before the Ashryver prince himself prowling after the two. Rowan and Lysandra were left standing in an awkward silence before the shape-shifter simply stated, "they'll be gone awhile," before grabbing his elbow and led him to the front yard.

It was a luxurious garden, filled with flowers and plants of every kind, apple trees lining one side; hidden behind them, an entire orchard. Stone benches were littered here and there, the willows nearby were wighed down with hanging boughs of emerald green leaves.

It would have been beautiful, had Rowan been really able to see it, instead all he saw in his mind's eye was Aelin's face when she saw him. Hollow. Empty. Cold.

He sat down on a one of the closer benches, head down, shoulders hunched and hands propped on his knees. Lysandra approached warily, as if he were a spooked animal in need of comforting.

 

"What?" he asked dully.

"It may not be my place to tell you this, but..." she paused then continued gently, "she's still hurt over what you—"

"You think I don't know that?" he interrupted, not caring anymore about manners. "It hurts for me too; that she so _happy_ around you, Aedion, Ren even... everyone _else,_ yet not with me!" Rowan ran a hand through his hair, which was slowly growing back out and continued. "You think I don't know that this was entirely my fault? I blame myself because I made her this way. I _have_ noticed that she's avoiding me and if only I hadn't done what I—"

"It's not all your fault—" he glared at her but she persisted "—it's Remelle's fault, there is little to no blame on you. We haven't told Aelin yet, about what Remelle and our _little_ fight the other day."

"You haven't?" he asked, bewildered. They were supposed to have told her. Rowan's hearts lifted; hope rushing in to replace despair. "Can I tell her?"

The shape-shifter purses her lips. "If you can stand her shouting at you, then be my guest. You might want to tell the others first though," she added as an afterthought. "Just so they will stay out of your way."

"Okay," he acquiesced. "I'll— I'll be okay with her yelling at me but can _you_ tell them?"

"Fine. Consider this a favor." She frowned when he stood up abruptly. "You might want to apologize later."

"I know. Scouting." Rowan waved a hand at her as he left. "Thanks."

With that, he shifted and flew off.

Evangeline was laughing at their antics. He and the queen were acting out a part from a book. The three of them had retreated to the cool dimness of the library, where they'd cleared a space to move about. Aelin was putting on a fake accent, bowing and pretending to be a female general, Aedion himself acting as thought he were High King. Quite the reversal of roles and they were failing miserably.

"You guys," Evangeline giggled from where she sat on the couch. "This is ridiculous. Stop."

"Nope," Aedion laughed. Aelin, however, sprawled onto one of the numerous couches to the side, grinning. Glancing down at his cousin, he faux pouted but joined her; Aelin shifted so she was sitting up properly and gestured to her lap. Getting the message, he laid down with his head in her lap and she relaxed, ruffling his already messy shoulder length hair.

"Aelin," he complained. "Stop playing with my hair. I am _not_ a girl."

"Too bad," she replied, running her fingers through the gold-colored strands. He frowned but decided to let her; Evangeline snickered, watching them with citrine eyes. Eventually, the young girl got up and picked a novel from one of the shelves, then showed Aelin the title, who nodded. They sat in comfortable silence, the near-teen curled up in a cream-colored armchair, reading, Aelin continuously and softly stroking his hair. Aedion closed his eyes and sighed.

"You're no better than a dog," his beloved cousin murmured, sliding her left hand and the Northern Wolf wove his fingers between hers.

"Well, sweetheart, there is a reason I'm called the Wolf of the North," he said, smirking slightly. They were there for the entire afternoon, enjoying the dim massive space; after a while, Ren and Lysandra joined came in, the former wandering off to look for a book, the latter's scent hit him, belonging to everything and nothing at once. Aedion heard. Rather than saw, Lysandra flop onto another of the love seats with a novel she'd bought.

Ren came back nearly and hour later, his steps heavier than when he had first come in; he cracked open an eye to see the cover: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis. Aedion snorted; personally, he loved the series but he hadn't thought that Ren read those types of books.

A maid came in a while later, during which he fell asleep, and curtsied. "Dinner is ready Your Majesty." The girl turned to the others and greeted them by their title, then went out. Aelin gently poked his cheek, waking him from the light slumber he had fallen into. He sat up, stretching his limbs. "I know, I know. Dinner." Aelin shifted behind him, yawning. Aedion got up, shaking his head, trying to sort out his hair. He offered his arm to Aelin, running a hand through his hair; Lysandra and Evangeline just laughed, getting up from where they had been sprawled over the furniture, chatting about what they've read. _It seems my cousin's love of books rubbed off on the others,_ he thought, amused. _Sooner or later, it'll probably rub off on him too._

Aelin flashed her teeth and hooked her hand into the crook in his elbow, raising a delicate eyebrow. _Shall we?_

Aedion smirked. Ren opened the door then followed behind them, like a bodyguard as they walked to the Great Hall. Really, the Allsbrook heir could be easily be mistaken for a bodyguard, with the black fitting clothes and the twin sheathes at his side. When they walked in, food was already on the table, Remelle sitting at the head of the long table. Aedion immediately stiffened and led a pale Aelin next to Lysandra, who had already seen the evil bitch and sat near the other end of the table, as far as humanly possible; he pulled out a chair for Aelin then sat down beside his cousin.

A certain Fae prince was nowhere in sight, however, when they were about to eat, Remelle already having dug in before them, a large white-tailed hawk flew in through one of the windows. The giant bird settled on the back of a chair, ruffling it's feathers. The four of them gave it a glance before digging in, starving.

Tonight, they were eating lamb stew, roasted potatoes and peas; wine aside, it tasted great. Desert, again, was something else: Pavlova with an assortment on fruits.

After shoveling the main down, Lysandra came over to him and Ren, asking them to head outside to 'talk'. Aedion patted his cousin's hair and smiled reassuringly when she looked up at him, worried that he was going somewhere without her. Neither of them had taken well to being apart, not even now; in their youth, whenever she had been upset, he would sneak into her room at night to comfort her. He had gotten caught, but that was to be expected really, he had to have been caught eventually, and by none other than her father, Rhoe Galathynius. Aelin gave him a smile back, concern still pinching her eyebrows together, and started on her slice of desert.

The hawk had watched their exchange like... well, a _hawk_ and suddenly took flight. _Stupid fool,_ he thought, shaking his head as he followed the other two outside.

When they were a good distance away from the Hall, Lysandra spun around and blurted out, "Rowan's going to apologize."

Ren raised his eyebrows. "I thought he already did. A bit after we 'chewed' him out," he stated for Ren's benefit.

"Good. Saves me time and effort," the Allsbrook heir remarked. Aedion chuckled under his breath. Lysandra elucidated what Rowan had said and told them to keep out of his way for a while.

"A day, at the most," Aedion huffed. Ren just gave him a knowing smile and Lysandra blinked.

"They don't take well to being separated from each other," Ren explained for him; turning around, the Lord added, "You guys haven't changed much. Still the same from when we were younger."

By the time they went their separate ways, it was nearing ten. When he entered his room, Aelin was lounging on the couch. Hearing Aedion enter, she sat up, eyes shining; he guessed that with her sharp intuition, she knew what had been said.

"Don't think about it," he said as he flopped down next to her.

Wrapping an arm around his waist, his queen said, "I'll try not to..." her already soft reply was muffled by the fabric of his shirt, making it barely audible. Aedion Ashryver laid his cheek on his dear cousin's head; Aelin's warmth enveloped in his, he squeezed her slender shoulders lightly.

"You'll be okay."

 

 


	9. The Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized... The Enemy... of Death.... References... What the fuck.

 

Rowan was messing around with his blades, throwing them at the target dummy set fifteen yards away in his chambers.

It had been a shock to see Remelle walking around tonight. He'd thought that she'd been locked in the bathroom but apparently a servant had heard her and let her out. He pursed his lips, throwing another dagger at the dummy, with enough force that the blade sank up to the hilt in the stuffed doll. _Aedion and the others won't be happy,_ Common Sense told him.

_No doubt—they're already mad at me anyways._ Rowan sighed; it just wasn't a battle he can win. On top of everything, he missed Aelin terribly; Rowan was expecting the nightmares to come back and torment him but, fortunately, a deity or other has decided he was miserable enough.

Gods, what wouldn't he do to just be near her again. He sighed again and flopped into bed, where Aelin's scent still lingered; he went to sleep clinging to the hope that she would take him back and all will be well.

...

Aedion Ashryver woke up, squinting in the bright sunlight that flooded through the thick velvet curtains. At the sound of clattering, he sniffed; the scent of bacon and eggs registered and his stomach growled. _Damn_. His queen and cousin was setting out breakfast. Gods above. He padded over.

"Do you never sleep?" he asked incredulously. Aelin's always up before the rest of the court and, sometimes, even the servants. And they get up ridiculously early.

"Don't be ludicrous. Of course I do. Though not much," Aelin admitted.

"How. Just... How?"

"Well... long story short, I used to stay up late... hunting you could say—"

"You mean to say...?" he trailed off.

"Yes. And whenever I got back, I would sleep for a few hours, four at the most, before reporting to Arobynn and then get a new mission, also courtesy of Arobynn."

"That's why? Good gods, you should try to break the habit."

"About that... well, you know what they all say; bad habits die hard," she remarked. "I've tried, and believe me, it did not work. Instead, I ended waking up earlier in the mornings if I went to bed early the night before."

"Have you tried other methods?" Aedion asked, splashing water on his face at the sink. He toweled himself dry as Aelin spoke.

"Of course, every safe method known."

"Great. Just wonderful. I wake up after my younger cousin, who is also a girl, I might add. It's like losing to a younger sister," he mocked.

"Shame. It sucks for you." His cousin grinned wickedly. "Now eat up. You'll need the strength for when I kick your as in training. Public courts today."

Aedion groaned before digging in. "You're kidding! The public courts?" he muttered through his food.

"Yes. Serves you right." He mumbled a curse and shot Aelin a glare. _Why does this always happen to me?_

"Screw you," he told her. "I—"

Before he even finished his sentence, Aelin pulled a face and retorted, "Please don't."

His head shot up, eyes wide. "Aelin!" he exclaimed. _What the fuck?_ "That is disgusting!"

"You're the one who said it," she laughed. Aedion frowned.

"I didn't mean it that way!" This went on for nearly twenty minutes, and by that time, Aedion and Aelin had finished breakfast. Yet the more angry or disgusted he got, the more Aelin just laughed.

"Aelin, I swear to God, I'll kill you if you—" Just then, the door opened to allow Rowan in.

"—tell anyone," Aedion finished and added, "Well, shit."

"Shit indeed," Aelin muttered before turning on her heels and walked out.

The Wolf of the North shot the Prince an _I–was-in-the-middle-of-something_ look before following the fiery queen.

...

Rowan had heard the shouting in Aedion's room and had gone to investigate. Opening the door, the Prince walked into a—

"Aelin, I swear to God, I'll kill you if—" Both stopped to look at him.

"—tell anyone," Aedion finished. "Well, shit."

An awkward pause ensued. "Shit indeed," Aelin mumbled and walked out, her long legs eating up the distance to the door.

The General shot him a look that was basically a _fuck-off_ and started after her. Rowan grabbed Aedion's wrist to stop him and the male spun around to give him a half pissed questioning look.

"What were you two shouting about?" he asked curiously. The Ashryver Prince's ears turned bright red.

"Umm... I said 'screw you' to Aelin and she _on purpose_ cut me off and took it the wrong way," he muttered, color slowly creeping up his neck and turning his face as red as his ears.

Rowan faux smirked and muttered 'incest' before letting go of Aedion's wrist and the latter left, face bright red, steps clumsy and shuffling.

_Well then. Not exactly unexpected._ He'd been alive long enough to know how people had speculated about the usefulness of a Ashryver—Galathynius union. There had even been talk off it when the two had been younger and, of course, still talk of it now. He frowned before shifting with a soft flash of light and flew off to hunt again.

...

Aelin stormed through the halls, just wanting to get out of the restored palace, not caring where she went. An idea formed in her head and Aelin changed course for the stables.

She ran through the carved doors and spun around, closing them quickly. Locking them, Aelin slumped down, watching the horses fidget and snort, there were many breeds: English Thoroughbreds, Andalusians, Lipizzaners, Shires, American Quarter Horses, among other breeds. Her favorite breed, though, was the Norwegian Fjords.

All of the color variations: rodblakk—pale gold body, red-brown in the middle of her mane and tale and the rest of her body was cream. Brunblakk, or bay dun, a pale golden-brown, cream body and with dark br0wn in the mare's mane and tale; an ulsblakk gelding—white dun, different from kvit, was cream, and the middles of his mane and tail were black. Another gelding, grablakk, was light silvery grey in color, with black in her mane and tail. And gulblakk, the rarest, was a red dun but the color had been diluted through breeding, mane and tail were whitish cream, any markings indistinguishable—he was a stallion, hence he was kept away from the others, Nightstorm was in his own stall at the other end of the stable. Aelin liked the contrast and how pleasant those colors were; the horses themselves were well behaved, gentle and highly intelligent. She loved the others. She had been in here so much while rebuilding that Aelin had learned to love the smell of the horses, the scent of hay and wood, the faint underlying smell of leather. The sound of the horses snorting and fidgeting, the occasional neigh, was soothing, knowing that life can carry on, unaffected by any of her love-life dramas.

A nearby Friesian mare snorted and stomped her foot. Aelin stood up and went over to the sixteen hands horse, gently stroking her forelock, breathing deeply, settling her nerves. Aelin, after a moment, padded to the tack room, stopping on the way in a built in closet to change. She swapped the comfortable jeans for black and grey riding breeches and tall knee high brown leather boots, before sliding a crop into a holster at her belt loop and grabbing a helmet on the way out. Slipping into the tack room, she looked for a plaque with the name 'Snowdale', hefted the blanket and saddle onto her shoulder, carrying the bridle and walked out.

There was a stall used for tacking up so she carefully dumped the equipment there, slipped a halter onto her wrist and went over to the black Andalusian. Sliding the halter on the sweet gelding, she hooked a finger onto the belts and gently tugged him forward and towards the crossties. The powerfully built horse went with her amicably, nuzzling her shoulder before turning around; Aelin leaned down to pick up his grooming brush and gave the horse's coat a quick once-over. She dropped the brush back into the bucket with a loud clang and picked up the blanket and saddle, settling it on the gelding's shoulders before sliding it into place and pulling the girth to a snug fit. Luckily for her, Snowdale wasn't a fighter when it came to tacking up, so he willingly accepted the metal bit and allowed her to pull the leather strap over his ears.

Aelin buried her face in his thick, wavy mane and stood there for a while. Eventually, she grasped the gleaming helmet off the hook and led Snowdale out to the main area in front of the stalls. Just then, a loud bang issued from the planks of wood that made up the front door. Sighing loudly, she led the horse to the back door and left that way; that door led to the Oakwald Forest and into the wilderness. There was somewhere she wanted to go, before finally getting over Rowan. It was somewhere she had found while running wild when they got back and restored the palace along with the surrounding area. She hoisted herself up on her left leg, hooked her feet into the stirrups, and settled into the saddle. Squeezing her heels around Snow's ribs, the gelding set forward at a walk—his was an elevated, almost floating, pace. Aelin loved his paces; they were so smooth and agile.

He practically pranced out the door, head held high. They hadn't traveled far before the rustle of leaves reached her ears and an unfamiliar, disgusting scent stuffing itself up her nose, clouding her sense of smell.

 

 

 

 


	10. I have No idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey this is where the actual story ends, next are just weird skits I randomly wrote out that was gonna happen but nope.
> 
> Lots of love, Infernal

 

****Aedion Ashryver flung himself into his room, red-faced from the extremely short conversation with Rowan. He closed his eyes and tried to find Aelin through the blood connection—there was nothing, nothing but a faint trace of what had been. _Aelin? Where_ are _you? Are you alright?_

Crap, she must've switched back to her human form. The only reason she would have done that was in an emergency.

...

Aelin had flung herself out of the saddle, switching to her human form, the soft flash of light hidden by the cascade of leaves around her. Gripping Snowdale's bridle for balance, she toed off her boots so as to move silently.

She stroked his silken nose and murmured, "We have to leave." The horse snorted softly, before standing stock still, as if he understood the importance of the situation. Aelin lead the black Andalusian to behind the trees and bushes, away from where she had scented and heard them coming, whatever 'they' were. The two of them waited patiently and Aelin had almost let her guard down when two astonishingly beautiful humans walked out of the foliage. Narrowing her eyes, she tried sniffing but remembered she had turned into her human form. _Crap. Aedion._ Furrowing her brow, Aelin tried to contact him through the blood link. Mental static met her.

Fortunately, the boots had fighting and throwing knives tucked away in sheaths between the leather and the toughened fabric lining, in case of emergencies. She quickly untacked Snow, leaving nothing on; he knew how to reroute from here back to the palace. She buried his tack in the ground, quietly covering it up with leaves before carving a small dot into the bark of a nearby tree—unnoticeable except for her. Aelin pulled the boots back on.

Drawing out three throwing daggers, she held them by their blades, hand poised to fling them and whispered, "Go" in Snow's ear. He took of obediently, and she held her breath. Those things hadn't reacted. Thank the Gods. She flipped the blades in her hand so she was holding the steel handles and got ready to sprint, mentally preparing herself for a mile before rerouting to the palace.

Aelin took off, her steps light and fast but those creatures had heard and followed.

The mile went by gradually, and they hadn't lagged, instead they were running faster, nearly at her heels already. She had no choice, she couldn't outrun them. Taking a deep breath, she spun, aimed, and flung a knife out; she was moving fast, but Aelin still had time to watch it spin, handle over blade, before slamming home into the creature's right eye. It stopped and hunched over, trying to get the blade out, but the knife had sunk in to the hilt and blood was pouring out in buckets. _It_ should _be dead_ , Aelin thought, alarmed. _The blade should have sunk into it's frontal lobe. It should be dying from blood loss. Shit._

She shifted back to her Fae form before throwing another, sliding out a fighting knife from her left boot. The one she threw hit the other thing in the chest, above where the heart should be—it should have severed it's aorta, which means it should be bleeding to death within minutes. However, it doesn't seem to be _dying,_ not exactly. The wound in one's eye seems to have sealed over, the other just pulled the knife out.

Aelin nearly stopped in her tracks as her eyes widened at the horrific sight; there were threads of blackish blood weaving around and through the wounds, knitting the skin of the beings back together. It was as fascinating as it was disgusting.

Aelin threw all the knives in her right hand as she vaulted her weight up a tree's branches. She was fucked. Now those things had weapons, curtesy of herself as both clutched daggers. _Her_ daggers. She made it up in time, just as the point of a blade slammed into where her foot was a second ago. _Aedion,_ she thought, praying he would hear. She didn't get a reply; she just hoped he wouldn't send any normal soldiers.

The two lunged at her and she ducked, curling in on herself, to avoid the attack. What caught her by surprise was that it flipped the blade and was aiming it towards her—Aelin's eyes widened in disbelief as the dagger missed by mere inches. Her senses were on high alert and she ducked in time to avoid a hilt to the temple, which would have knocked her out, giving them the opportunity to take her away.

She sprinted down a branch, leaping to make it to the next, and ran. Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, ran for her life. And those things stalked her from the ground.

...

He strode through the halls, tracing Aelin's scent. It was everywhere, but this particular one was fresh, made less than an hour ago. He started a light jog, nodding at any passing servants. The trail went past Lysandra's room and he called out, "Lys? Have you seen Aelin?"

A muffled "No" came back. The door opened, revealing Lysandra in a green tunic embroidered with silver, white breeches and tall, knee high brown boots. "Why?"

"I can't find her anywhere," he said, concerned.

"Maybe she went out without telling you," the courtesan said, but furrowed her slender brows in doubt.

"Yeah, but when does she ever go out human?"

"She went out _human?_ " Lysandra said, eyes widening with alarm. They both knew she never _ever_ went out human—Aelin preferred her Fae form since it was faster and easier to move around in. As well as being less vulnerable, yet more sensitive.

"I can't feel her. Even if she had blocked me out, I should be able to _feel_ her there through the bond. Can you?" he asked. Lysandra was also blood sworn, meaning she should have a link as well. They paused as Lysandra tried. The shapeshifter shook her head.

"No." With that, they both took off, Lys shifting into a bloodhound before reaching the end of the hall. She raised her nose, sniffing delicately, her nose twitching, before bounding off to the stables. A black Andalusian was standing there, side-stepping and scuffing the ground with a hoof and as they approached, the usually calm horse reared up, white visible all around his irises. Lysandra was back in human form in a flash, her eyebrows raised enough to be in danger of disappearing into her now-loose fringe—the horse's mane was tangled with sticks and leaves, as if it were wild and had run in on accident. Aedion walked up to it, hands out before him, schooling his face into a relaxed mask; the horse pranced on the spot, head raised high, before calming down enough to let the Ashryver prince stroke its velvety nose. When he stroked the creatures head, he realized three things: this was Snowdale, named opposite his all-black coat, and that he was Aelin's favorite equine companion.

And thirdly, his queen was nowhere to be seen. To say they were worried would be an understatement; Lysandra disappeared through the back door, then a howl ensued. _Caught a scent_ , she told him. _It's back_.

It? What was 'it'? Had Lysandra encountered whatever had made their queen change back to her human form, Aedion wondered.

 

Continue Reading the Next Part


	11. Unofficial Cpater #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot has ended, random shit has begun. May the best reader survive this hell of a writing fest. Also excuse any grammar or misspelling. I originally wrote this on a Samsung phone and you Samsung users out there know what I mean when your lag is so bad it affect your typing.
> 
> Lots of Love, Infernal

Today. Ten years. For so long. . . This day haunted her. It still did. Aelin left the castle, unable to bear the silence. She hadn't spoken much, and when she had, the words were clipped and cold.

She left for the Mansion, Terrasens own version of the manor. Assassins and killers lived there. She let them, because she would need their aid soon-- and who is better at killing than the killers themselves? She just requested they do not kill innocents; they'd complied.

A fight. She wanted a fight. Walking into the arena dressed in her suit, she felt better. The killing calm was better than hollowness. The arena had benches curved around the wall, a closet of weapons every few meters. Sand and sawdust made up the floor.

The queen of Terrasen approached a male, dressed in similar attire, also fitted to his powerful body. A thick cloak was slung around his broad shoulders, hood down, pinned with the head of a silver stag, an eternal star of Topaz sparkling between its antlers. Aelin studied him. Messy black hair shined in the light, cut close, a thatch of loose curls on the top of his head. Stunning eyes of cobalt blue, a sensous mouth and high cheekbones. Unnaturally white teeth gleamed as he grinned at her. "I want your best fighter. Out here. I need to let off steam," Aelin said. The young man bowed and replied with a simple,

"At your service, my Queen."

Aelin nodded in approval. She bowed at the waist, a faint smile tugging her lips upwards.

"Name?" she asked.

"James Blackwell. Call me anything you wish," James said, shrugging off his cloak and throwing it onto a bench.

They faced each other, legs shoulder width apart. "Don't go easy on me," Aelin told James.

"It's not in my nature." He smirked.

And so, the fight began.

. . .

James was surprised and impressed. This queen could fight. But no matter, he was the best, had sprung up to take the place of Celaena Sardothien when she disappeared and was presumed dead.

He wasn't so cocky as to say he was better than Adarlan's Assassin. That woman had been the best among the best of killers. It's such a loss to assassins that she can't pass her craft on. Everyone knew she had been the former King of Adarlan's Champion.

He aimed a right hook at her, aware she was queen. But if she should get hurt, the girl had said to not hold back.

Aelin dodged back with amazing speed and dropped down. He jumped four feet into the air, spinning away. He grinned at her. His blood spattered as the queen drove a fist into his nose, her lunge too fast to catch. Aelin backed up a step, then lunged again, he dodged but, unexpectedly, Aelin turned her back to him. He realized what she had planned a split second before she-- the female grabbed his arm and pulled down and forwards. He landed with a wince on his back, and was back on his feet in a flash.

No more holding back. The both of them turned into a whirlwind of darkness, punching, lunging and kicking at each other.

Most of his attacks missed, since she kept parrying his advances, dodging when she couldn't. _Her_ attacks, however, would graze him.

He landed a sweeping kick to the back of her right knee, and Aelin slammed onto her knees.

James punched towards her jaw, the attack hitting-- Aelin backflipped, and locked her legs around his neck and twisted. The both of them slammed to the ground, dust flying up as she ended up on top of him, pulling her fist back to--

 James threw her off when he thrashed to get her off balanced. Aelin landed in a crouch, six feet away. Lunging, he threw his arm out, hand clenched, the same time she held up a hand to grab his.

His punch was forced to a staggering halt. The queen slowly twisted her hand sideways and he winced, as lightning shot up his arm.

"I could break your arm," she said. "But I don't think you'd like that." More than a match. James had underestimated-- no, he hadn't. He knew very well she could fight, as the queen had fought her way out of Valg soldiers for her cousin.

He had not counted on her physical strength and stamina. She looked thin enough that you would not expect that power from her. James hadn't seen or heard of anyone this skilled since-- his eyes widened.

"Celaena?" he asked, the question barely audible above a breathe. The girl narrowed her eyes, turquoise-gold eyes flashing. She let go of his fist and stood straight. Silent as a statue, her posture stock still, the preternatural stillness of a trained killer.

"Yes," Aelin said at last. "You've figured me out." A feline smile curved her lips. "Took you long enough."

He stood before smoothly dropping down onto one knee. The queen laughed. "Come now. If I wanted you to grovel, I will tell you. Get up, James."

He nodded and straightened. "Honored to make your acquaintance."

"Why don't you drop by the palace sometime?" A casually worded question, laced with deadly intent. "I won't kill you."

"Ah. But my lady, you can imprison me," he said warily.

"I swear on my crown not to," she laughed out. But that laugh... it had a subtle edge to it. The edge of... grief.

"Drop by." A command. "Say you know me. Perhaps I'll let you stay with me."

"And... training?" he asked hopefully. Her eyes gleamed.

"You are a worthy opponent. I'd love to," she said. He grinned, pleased. "For now, I am going to a bar."

"Goodnight, Lady."

"Goodnight, James." With that, she left.

. . .

Hours later, she couldn't even think about anything but-- Aelin. Aelin Fireheart. Killer. Destroyer. Traitor.

The whispers of the dead murmured all that and more as she cried, bitter tears for what she had left undone and unsaid.

Visions filled her mind. Nehemia was there, moving. But she wasn't. . . Nehemia. This girl was still beautiful but she bitter and. . . Wrong.

Her parents were there too. Throats slit from ear to ear, blood crusting the wound. Their flesh was a mottled grey color. Blood. Everywhere. There was so much blood, from her parents, Nehemia, everyone. Blood and pain, guilt and grief. Aelin screamed, loud enough to rattle the Heavens. And staggered back towards the castle. She walked into someone, thought about apologizing and disregarded whoever it was.

. . .

Aedion ran into the foyer just as his cousin staggered in, mostly unharmed but reeking of alcohol. He led her back to his rooms. Dragged was more like what he had to do. Locking the door, he turned to face Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, who was drunk off her ass, and Aedion was well aware what the reason was for her lack of sobriety.

"What do you want?" she snapped, glowering at him.

"Aelin, calm down," he said patiently. "You're home. _We're_ home.

"Aelin? Who's that?" she asked, eyebrows raised. His own eyes widened. "My name is Celaena Sardothien. . . And I will not be afraid."

"Aelin--" he started.

"She's gone! Don't you understand? Aelin Galathynius is _gon_ e!" his cousin snapped. "Only Celaena is here now."

His cousin ran her arms across the top of his dresser in a temper, shoving everything on it off. The glass and other small objects clattered to the floor, whereupon they shattered.

Aelin grinned at Aedion, the smile hiding sharp edges and the honed blade of grief. Her eyes were wild and dull at the same time.

"Aelin, please," he begged, hands out in a plea. She just laughed and smashed her fist through the stone and glass of the palace walls. Aedion lunged towards her, pinning her arms by her side from behind. "Stop," he said, desperate. "Stop, Aelin. _Stop._ "

"Why? Why? Tell me. _Why?_ " she asked, laughing manically. His queen shoved him away and staggered back. She reeked of alcohol. Too much-- she was feeling too much, too quickly. "She's already gone!" Aelin screamed, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

"Don't please. Please, Aelin, please." Light, the light of grief and anger, flooded her eyes, a split second before she punched him. Her fist was a blur as she slugged him in the jaw, the speed of her sloppy but powerful attack slammed him into a wall. Aedion winced as his head cracked against stone.

"What use am I?" she shouted. He threw a hit back, the impact sending Aelin stumbling back, collapsing onto stairs that led to his own attic. Blood spattered on the stone steps, the drops glittering like rubies in the light. Aelin straightened back up, still impossibly grinning, eyes wild. His own queen lunged for him and Aedion took in the brunt of her charge in order to hold her tightly by the back of her-- she was wearing her assassin suit. And the cloth was covered in dust.

They were both panting, gulping down breaths. Aelin turned her back to him, grabbed his arm and flipped him onto a table. His weight broke through the table, the wood collapsing beneath and around him. He groaned, clutching his ribs as he slumped down onto the cold floor.

And watched, helpless, as Aelin picked up a chair and hurled it with frightening ease at a mirror in the dresser. The delicate glass shattered into shards and dust, both of which landed in Aelin's hair. Aedion stayed frozen in horror and shock when she picked up belts of throwing daggers, strapped them on efficiently before stalking out into his yard.

He finally got up, and followed, limping. She hurled them with ferocity and scary accuracy. Aelin turned and hurled four, simultaneously followed by another two.

At him. Aedion Ashryver's heart stopped as one sliced a lock of his hair, the golden strands falling to the ground. The others went past with deadly accuracy, passing close enough that he felt the breeze they made. Aedion stayed still as death as she threw one after the other at him.

When she at last ran out, the belts empty, the blades in the wall and wooden door at his back, Aelin laughed.

And laughed, and laughed. She dropped to her knees and made a vulgar gesture to the sky, still laughing, tears streaming down her face.

"I quit! Yield, surrender! Capitulate!" the queen of one of the mightiest nations howled at the sky. "Do whatever you want with me! I don't care anymore!"

Still on her knees, hands curled at her sides on the ground, flames rose and curled around her. Aedion ran forward but the flickering fire engulfed her, rising and burning as bright as a funeral pyre. The last glimpse he had of his cousin were of Aelin tipping her head back to the Heavens and closing her eyes, face peaceful and pale, silent.

The world went up in flames.

. . .

Rowan sat up in alarm when a pounding knock sounded. What in the name of Hades?

The person outside kept knocking, insistent and thunderous. "Get up!" Aedion's voice shouted. "Get up! The palace is on fire!"

_Fire. Aelin. Where was she?_ He sprung off his bed and ran for the door. Throwing it open, Aedion stumbled in, his face smeared with ash and his hair tangled. Heat was rising around them, the flames just outside.

"What in hell happened?" he asked. "Where are the others?"

The male righted himself, panic in his turquoise-gold eyes. "Gone. I sent them away, away into Lysandra's estate."

His brow furrowed. "Aelin?" he managed to get out, starting to worry and panic.

"Where do you think the--" the heat surged and Aedion dashed outside, impossibly gaining enough momentum to vault over a fucking six foot wall. Rowan went after him; when he got outside, Aedion was gone-- the prince was sprinting for his quarters.

Someone else was trailing behind the prince, a shadow as he ran on the stone wall. He shifted, the flash of light swallowed by the brightness of flames that surrounded everything.

Soaring above the stranger, Rowan caught a glimpse of a black assassin's suit, and curly black hair. He had to swerve away when the fire surged up, though the stranger just leapt off the wall, into Aedion's yard, curling his body and arms to protect himself from the heat. How he knew which was Aedion's, Rowan had no idea.

He flew high above the cacophony of blue, red and gold flames, searching for any sign of Aedion or Aelin on the ground.

. . .

She was burning, her power flowing out and around her in a dance of light-- red, gold and blue. The fire consumed everything in her, the last of her shredded soul.

And broken enough that she let it burn.

. . .

James had trailed her and then jumped down to greet Celaena, except she just staggered past him, leaving the reeking scent of alcohol behind. His eyebrows flicked up in surprise, before he followed after at a safe distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This writing is so sloppy I cringed every time I reread it.


End file.
